Safety glasses a poll

[dwacker]

Do you wear safety glasses at work?

Does your employer provide safety glasses?

How often to you get a new pair?

Why do you get a new pair?

Does your employer limit new glasses?

 

Doesn't matter if you're a woodworker or not. The reason I ask is, we vend (yes vending machines) our PPE and shop supplies and I'm going over the numbers this morning and am a little surprised by the quantity of a few vended items. I'd like to write a policy but want to be fair so just looking for some numbers.

 

Thank you

[TerryMcK]

Do you wear safety glasses at work? No not required (office based)

Does your employer provide safety glasses? No as above. They are supplied to those workers whose job requires them.

How often to you get a new pair? Once every 6 months or as required if damaged for instance for the home shop only.

Why do you get a new pair? They get scratched.

Does your employer limit new glasses? Not as far as I am aware

Hope this helps Don

[Boatworks Today]

When I worked for the marina's that was a cost that was built into the job.  In my case glasses were typically a one job product as they were trashed (scratched, fogged over with spray residue, etc) by the time the work was done.  I think this would be much different for woodworking, though. 

 

Are you paying for the glasses or is that a responsibility the employee has to cover?

[dwacker]

 

Are you paying for the glasses or is that a responsibility the employee has to cover?

 

We provide everything the vending system is just to track usage. We can vend any PPE, shop supplies, drill bits, saw blades pretty much any smaller items even snacks and water. They work on weight sort of like going to home depot and exchanging a propane bottle but instead of a credit card to open the door or drawer they use ID / Time clock cards.

Currently they are averaging two pairs per week per, which IMO is way to much. On the other hand ear plugs are very low so we know they are not getting used as they should. I want to be fair and not charge them for extras but won't be taken advantage of either.

[Boatworks Today]

instead of a credit card to open the door or drawer they use ID / Time clock cards.

 

 

Sounds like you are able to track who's getting what.  I'd look over the records and talk to the person(s) that are high on the purchase count to see what their justification is..

[Dave]

You are in a no win situation.  Have you ever walked thru the shop/yard to find the sight of one (just the left) half used glove laying on the ground next to the safety glasses that run over by the forklift that was parked outside with a pallet of open bolt kegs in the rain next to the truck that just got hit by a falling beam because they were too lazy to walk inside and get the keys to move it so they could put $5 worth of metal in the scrap dumpster.  In your best Homer Simpson voice - it’s funny because it's true...

 

Someone is going to hate you because mandatory saftey glasses cost $1 or you are going to have to answer to someone as to why your spending $100 a month on safety glasses. 

 

Do you wear safety glasses at work? yes

Does your employer provide safety glasses?  yes

How often to you get a new pair?  as needed

Why do you get a new pair?  lost or damaged

Does your employer limit new glasses? it's hard to do when it is mandatory that they be worn - but if you send someone home you still need to get the work done.

[Indy Cindy]

When I worked in a chemistry lab at a pharmaceutical company safety glasses were available in our common supply room, no checkout necessary. We were also required to have a stash of safety glasses next to the door so that anyone entering the lab could grab a pair before entering the room. We in the lab were instructed to keep that stash filled up, many visitors just kept the pair of glasses that they used, and we were dinged during the internal safety inspection if our glasses bin was low. We were severely penalized if the bin was empty.

 

To answer the questions from that job:

Do you wear safety glasses at work? Yes

Does your employer provide safety glasses? Yes

How often to you get a new pair? Whenever the old pair got scratched up, approximately 6 pairs a year.

Why do you get a new pair? Scratched glasses

Does your employer limit new glasses? No

 

This is assuming these are regular safety glasses, not prescription which is a whole other matter.

[Beechwood Chip]

I've been on both ends of similar issues, and it's easy to piss everyone off with no real benefit.

 

First, like Boatworks said, find out how many glasses each person is using.  We practically had a revolt at work when the boss sent out a blanket "you're using too much X, cut back" when in reality only one person was using too much.  Everyone else blew a gasket because they were using barely enough to get by, and were now being told to use less.  So, I went to the boss to explain why one time I used an extra, and was told, "Oh, you're not the problem, this wasn't meant for you."  "So, who is it meant for?"  "Oh, the people it's meant for know who they are."  But, the other people don't know that, and think it's aimed at them.

 

If you want to go with a general announcement, you can say something like, "We go through a lot more safety glasses than I expected.  Try to keep it to about one pair a month.  If you go through them faster for some reason, let me know."  It may be that someone is working in a way hat destroys glasses, and the solution is not to tell him that he can't get new ones, but to correct the work process.  And this way people who aren't using too many don't feel like they are being targeted unfairly.

 

It's a good chance that only one or two people are the problem, and they may not even know that it is a problem.  Talking to them directly and non-accusingly may solve things nicely.  If you never gave any guidelines, then how were they to know that they were using too many?  It may be obvious to you, but they can't read your mind. Or, there may be some other problem that you are not aware of.

 

If you do start charging for glasses, people will resent it if you don't also raise their pay.  And, you don't want people to not get new glasses when they need them in order to save money.  I think charging for them is a bad idea.

[Vyrolan]

Currently they are averaging two pairs per week per, which IMO is way to much. On the other hand ear plugs are very low so we know they are not getting used as they should. I want to be fair and not charge them for extras but won't be taken advantage of either.

 

My father-in-law runs a transmission shop and they had the same problem.   They would just hand them out, but the guys in the shop took it for granted pretty bad.  There was no effort whatsoever on their part to remember them or keep from breaking them.  They would walk out with them on their head, forget it at home, and just grab a new pair...then leave that pair in their truck after lunch and get another new pair (office closer than the back of the parking lot).  They ended up going to a hybrid solution where they were allocated some number of pairs per amount of time (I don't remember the exact numbers) but after that they would be charged for them.  It basically ended all of the abuse and not many complaints.  Although it was a small enough shop that he was able to just get the guys together and explain the situation...so there was no real sense of "the company is trying to screw us over" or anything.

[Coop]

As an employer, I furnish all service people w/ safety glasses. They are not worn at all times, only when a machine or customer's facility warrants them. A new pair is issued every 6 months (mandatory) or more frequent if damaged, but they must exchange them. Lost glasses are paid for by the employee. For a while, I felt I was supplying safety glasses to all employees and their non adult children. You would think they were Gucci's

[dwacker]

As an employer, I furnish all service people w/ safety glasses. They are not worn at all times, only when a machine or customer's facility warrants them. A new pair is issued every 6 months (mandatory) or more frequent if damaged, but they must exchange them. Lost glasses are paid for by the employee. For a while, I felt I was supplying safety glasses to all employees and their non adult children. You would think the were Gucci's

 

Thats sort of where I'm at. Currently everyone is averaging two pairs a week some weeks more some weeks less. We can tell down to the minute when and who is using anything out of the vend. I think Ive come up with a good middle ground. I wanted everyone to be comfortable and safe so we currently use glasses costing $7.01 per pair IMO these are nice glasses with anti fog and should last many months. I have a pair of similar that have been used for quite a few years. 

I think Ive come up with a good middle ground. We will just let them decide at the next meeting. We can continue to have the better glasses and they can limit it to two pairs a month or we can switch to the $1.89 glasses and they can continue to use what they are using.

I know it may sound petty and I do appreciate the input. Watching the cost on these small things afford us the opportunity to spend money on the little benefits like snacks and drinks at no cost, foo foo coffee creamers and every kruig k cup they request hell we even provide new clean socks for those hot summer days when your feet are just plain overheated and tired from standing on concrete all day. 

[G S Haydon]

Love this thread! They get issued as an employer we have to supply all PPE. The team are pretty good and do look after them. The glasses issue seems cheap when compared to the purchase of 3x 3M versaflow systems!

[Firehawk]

One option is to have them turn in the old ones to get a new pair.  If they do not turn in the used pair they have to pay for the new ones.

[rodger.]

My day job does not require safety glasses, but my medical plan will buy me glasses every two years. Last year I got a set of prescription safety glasses, which I really like.

[Indy Cindy]

Thats sort of where I'm at. Currently everyone is averaging two pairs a week some weeks more some weeks less.

What are they doing with their old glasses, in the trash? Two pairs a week seems really excessive unless they are getting spattered with paint.

[mikem]

Do you wear safety glasses at work? - No

Does your employer provide safety glasses? - Yes

How often to you get a new pair? - N/A

Why do you get a new pair? - N/A

Does your employer limit new glasses? - My employer is a healthcare system, that takes personal safety devices very serious.  These are often replaced multiple times a day. 

 

I will agree in your case, it seems excessive.  However, i would also be careful so that an employee can't cause you grief because they can claim you aren't providing the necessary safety equipment.

[Eric.]

Definitely wasteful and they're abusing your liberal safety glasses policy.  I've been using the same two pair for years.  I say allocate them two pair per year and after that it's out of their pockets.  Employees act like toddlers if you let them.

[Trip]

In Lab, MFG, Quality, Warehousing/Stores and certain other spaces, glasses/gowns are mandatory at all times – no excuses. Certain areas have safety/gowning requirements above the minimum. What’s interesting, glasses are optional in the Machine Shop – but mandatory when working at a machine. We have purpose-made wall-mounted safety glasses cabinets by entrance/egress doors – available at any lab-supply house. Next to the safety glasses cabinet, we have coat-pegs for lab coats, a wall-mounted First-Aid kit and other communal resources particular to the space. Each glasses cubby slot is labeled with the employee name. In general, employees de-gown (they write name on back of gown with sharpie) and hang them on coat pegboard next to the glasses cubby. Folks generally write their names on the glasses with a sharpie. System works well. Employees can draw replacements from stores as needed – and clearly, certain patterns emerge - certain names keep allocating kit more often than their co-workers. It’s just like everything else (honor system coke machines, group fridges, etc) the 80/20 rule prevails. With everything in cubbies and on the honor system, group dynamics become the primary method of control – everyone knows who the ‘problem children’ are. In general, if an individual has a ‘problem’ with glasses, there are probably issues in other areas as well… These folks generally bubble to the surface fairly quickly…

[wtnhighlander]

In my workplace, glasses, earplugs, hard hat, steel metatarsal boots and flame retardant clothing are ALL mandatory. Fall protection harnesses as well for maintenance employees. Employer provides all but boots at no cost ($150 per year allowance for boots). New non-prescription glasses and other gear are issued through the store room. Uniforms are rented, but lost ones come out of the employee's paycheck.

My company has a policy that safety comes first, and they don't deny that injured / dead employees cost them way more than providing the safety gear.

[woodbutcher74]

I would think if you had a company meeting and explained that the abuse of the safety equipment numbers could cost all employees the other benefits, they would kinda police each other. Oh, what am I thinking , it's 2014 and it's all about ME, ME, ME!

[CessnaPilotBarry]

Do you wear safety glasses at work?

Does your employer provide safety glasses?

How often to you get a new pair?

Why do you get a new pair?

Does your employer limit new glasses?

 

- Yes, if in equipment areas.  However, most of our equipment is electronic, not mechanical, so plastic lens "everyday wear" prescription glasses are accepted when not using power tools, or around chemicals or mechanical equipment.

- Yes - Prescription, when necessary

- When damaged, lost, or there is a change in personal prescription

- See previous

- They are treated like any other company provided tool or resource.  Reasonable things happen, but excessive loss or damage related to careless use can result in disciplinary action.