What Are Laser Safety Glasses?

When researching protective eyewear, you may come across laser safety glasses. They are commonly worn by workers who are exposed to laser light. For certain occupations, laser safety glasses are classified as personal protective equipment (PPE). They offer protection against bodily injuries while working. What are laser safety glasses exactly, and how do they work?

Overview of Laser Safety Glasses

Laser safety glasses are protective eyewear that live up to their namesake by shielding the wearer's eyes of laser light. Lasers, of course, produce light. Laser light often consists of ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths that can damage a worker's eyes. Direct exposure to laser light can result in the temporary or permanent loss of eyesight. Fortunately, there are glasses available to protect workers from laser light. Known as laser safety glasses, they'll prevent dangerous laser light from reaching a worker's eyes.

How Laser Safety Glasses Work

There are different types of laser safety glasses, but they all work by either absorbing or reflecting light in specific wavelengths. They consist of specialized lenses. For some laser safety glasses, the lenses will absorb laser light. For other types of laser safety glasses, the lenses will reflect laser light. Regardless, all laser safety glasses are designed to shield the wearer's eyes from laser light.

Things to Consider When Choosing Laser Safety Glasses

When choosing laser safety glasses, you'll need to consider the wavelength or wavelengths of the laser light to which are you are exposed. Laser light comes in a wide range of wavelengths. Laser safety glasses, though, aren't designed to protect against all wavelengths. They only offer protection for specific wavelengths. If you're going to buy a pair of laser safety goggles, make sure they protect against the wavelengths to which you are exposed while working.

You should also consider the type of specializes lenses used in the laser safety glasses. As previously mentioned, laser safety glasses typically work by either absorbing or reflecting laser light. Both types of lenses will shield your eyes from laser light. They simply work in different ways by either absorbing or reflecting laser light.

Don't forget to consider the type of laser light that the safety goggles are designed to protect against. Some of them protect against laser light, whereas others protect against KTP laser light. You'll need to consider both the wavelengths and the type of laser light when choosing laser safety goggles.