ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2015 prescribes the design, performance specifications, and marking of safety eye and face products, including millions of safety goggles, spectacles, face shields, and welding helmets, worn by workers in thousands of manufacturing and processing facilities, university and research laboratories, and other occupational settings.
It was developed by the Z87 Committee on Safety Eye and Face Protection, which is administered by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Safety eyewear conforming to the standard is widely used in the U.S., and the standard is incorporated into OSHA regulations for personal protective equipment.
The updates in the revision reflect the need to streamline test methods in concert with similar global standards, such as those for impact testing and luminous transmittance for welding protectors, and to recognize new innovations in protector design that had not been previously addressed but which can provide appropriate protection against workplace eye and face hazards.
Several key changes reinforce the importance of selecting equipment based on specific hazards against which protection is needed, a concept first introduced in 2010 as part of the standard’s reorganization. The standard includes information that can assist safety professionals and workers in making informed decisions in selecting appropriate eye and face protection such as the “Selection Guide” and “Protectors Markings” tools. Readers can utilize the tools to become familiar with the protector markings and the corresponding performance requirements given in the standard, in order to evaluate the capabilities and limitations of a particular device based on the manufacturer’s claims.
