Electrotechnology Eyewear Safety Requirements

Significant eye hazards with the potential for serious injury have been identified in the Electrotechnology lab classes (see the document “Electrotechnology Department Eye Hazard Risk Assessment – 2004”). The risks range from relatively low to very high and there is an additional degree of uncertainty or unpredictability introduced by the learning environment. These hazards exist all the time the lab classes are occupied and protective eyewear is mandatory at all times to ensure everyone exposed to these hazards is adequately protected.

1. Everyone is required to wear CSA Class 1A spectacles protective eyewear (spectacles with side shields) while in a class or lab where exposed circuits are present and being used or where anyone present is interfacing, testing/measuring, soldering, using hand/power tools, cutting wire or performing other similar tasks. Inconsistent application and/or disregard for this basic safety requirement are unacceptable. Consistent application and enforcement for wearing protective eyewear is required.
2. There are two options for obtaining the required degree of protection for those who already wear prescription glasses:
   1. Purchase customized prescriptive industrial safety glasses (from your optometrist or ophthalmologist) and request “industrial protection” lenses, frames and side shields. (Recommended.)
   2. Wear CSA approved “over-the-glass” eyewear. (Not recommended. For short term use only. )
3. Protective eyewear must always be in safe, working and useable condition; scratched or damaged eyewear is not acceptable for use. Store eyewear in a suitable protective case.
4. Class 1A spectacles must be worn for machining operations performed in room E229C and E229D.
5. Class 2B non-vented goggles for chemical splashes and Class 6A face shield for must be worn for protection from chemical splashes in the PCB lab (E229A).

Wearing protective glasses and enforcing this requirement brings the following benefits:

1. Protects College employees from serious eye injury.
2. Protects students from serious eye injury
3. Instills a sense of safety responsibility and awareness for students that will serve to protect them once they enter the workforce population.
4. Conforms to standard industry practices.
5. Demonstrates “due diligence” by the College as an employer and educator.
6. Complies with the requirements of the Occupational Health & Safety Act and applicable regulations.
7. Note: There may be limited occasions in a class/lab in which the activities or conditions that create the eye hazard(s) have been eliminated (perhaps only temporarily) and the need for eye protection would be over-protective and not required. This determination would have to be made on a case by case basis that is appropriately left to the discretion of the instructor. Such determinations must be made responsibly and with extreme caution to ensure the hazard has truly been eliminated and nobody is left at risk and unprotected.

Tom Low, Associate Dean, Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology