An Eyeful of an Eyesore

Your eyes are the most valuable possession you have, that you tend to put at greatest risk doing the most dumb things…like welding without safety glasses on, or worse, welding without a helmet.

Even in grinding safety glasses are not enough, but we try to scrimp by until we get just that one tiny job done so we skip the full face gear.  Or we are welding up a bike frame, and while tacking things together, we just squint and squeeze the trigger. This is serious. You can’t be tough looking using a white cane or holding onto someone’s sleeve for direction. Yet many welders every year end up this way. You may not see them, but they are there.

Let’s be honest, any safety equipment really is an aggravation.   But it is the aggravation that also helps keep us on our toes. My eye doctor has told me some horror stories of retrieving objects from welder’s eyes…He said the worst was aluminum because the magnets used to retrieve splinters of metal sticking in the eye just don’t work for aluminum. He also sees badly burned retinas from the welding arc, either through out right exposure or accidental exposure from having cracked helmets or back flashing.

Whether you are a serious welder or not, experienced or not, no amount of welding skill will create a safe environment for your eyes.  Only using the gear so many people have carefully researched and developed will help you save your eyes.