Eye Protection
Eye injuries happen fast, from stuff you weren't even watching — a grinder spark, a snapped wire tie, dust off the wind. By the time you feel it, it's already in there. A free talk from Blue Crane Works in Hamilton, Ontario, with a printable sign-in sheet.
How to run it
Read it through once, then talk it — don't recite it. Five minutes at the start of the shift, crew standing where the work happens. Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act requires every employer to provide information, instruction and supervision to protect workers (s. 25(2)(a)). A talk like this, led by a supervisor or someone they trust, is one way to do it, and the sign-in sheet is what proves it happened.
Talk through these points
- Safety glasses are the daily minimum. The job tells you when you need more — goggles for dust and chemical splash, a face shield over top for grinding and chipping.
- Match the eyewear to the task, not the habit. Side-shield glasses don't stop a spark coming from below or a splash from the side — goggles seal where glasses don't.
- Grinding, cutting, and nail guns throw debris sideways, not just at the person doing the work. Everyone standing in the zone wears eye protection, not just the operator.
- Contact lenses don't protect against dust and chemical splash — they trap it against the eye. Safety eyewear goes on over the lenses, not instead of it.
- Know where the eyewash station is before you need it, and know it actually works. A station nobody can find or that's dry when you get there isn't first aid.
- A speck that seems to flush out fine can still scratch the cornea. If it doesn't come out clean with water in a couple of minutes, that's a clinic trip, not a shrug.
Ask the crew
- Where's the closest eyewash station to where we're working today, and does it actually work?
- What's today's task that throws debris — grinding, cutting, nail guns — and who's standing near it who isn't the one doing it?
- Whose safety glasses are scratched up enough that they can't see straight through them?
The answers are the real talk. If a question lands on a live hazard, write it down and assign it a name and a date.
Paper it
A talk without a record didn't happen, as far as anyone who asks is concerned. Print these free:
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