What Are Laser Safety Glasses and How Do They Work?

If you work around electromagnetic radiation light, you should consider investing in a pair of laser safety goggles. Eye injuries are common in the workplace. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 2,000 workers sustain an eye injury on any given day. While some of these injuries involve blunt-force trauma, others involve exposure to electromagnetic radiation light.

What Are Laser Safety Glasses

Laser safety goggles are protective eyewear that are designed to filter electromagnetic radiation light. Lasers, of course, consist of electromagnetic radiation light. When exposed to lasers, you may sustain an eye injury. Laser safety glasses are available to protect against eye injuries such as this. They will shield your eyes from potentially harmful laser light.

How Laser Safety Glasses Work

All laser safety goggles are designed to protect the wearer's eyes from electromagnetic radiation light. With that said, some of them use a different method of protection than others. There are absorption-based laser safety glasses, for instance, that work by absorbing electromagnetic radiation light. As long as the electromagnetic radiation light is within a specific wavelength, the glasses will absorb it. Absorption-based laser safety glasses will convert the absorbed electromagnetic radiation light into heat, thereby preventing the light from reaching the eyes.

There are also scattering-based laser safety glasses. As the name suggests, they are designed to disperse or "scatter" the electromagnetic radiation light. When the electromagnetic radiation light strikes the lenses, it will be scattered.

One of the most common types of laser safety glasses is reflection. Reflection-based laser safety glasses work by reflecting the electromagnetic radiation light. They typically feature special coatings on which laser light will bounce off. Rather than traveling through the lenses, the laser light or electromagnetic radiation light will bounce off.

Tips on Choosing Laser Safety Glasses

How do you know what type of laser safety glasses to choose exactly? You should consider the wavelength. Different types of laser safety glasses are designed for different wavelengths of laser light. For optimal protection against eye injuries, you'll need to choose laser safety glasses in the right wavelength for your work environment.

You should also consider the technology. As previously mentioned, most laser safety glasses use one of three technologies to protect against laser-related eye injuries: absorption, scatter or reflection. Absorption-based laser safety glasses absorb laser light. Scatter-based laser safety glasses scatter laser light. And reflection-based laser safety glasses reflect laser light.