Safety Glasses

Name: Safety Glasses
Brand: Boling Vision Center

Protecting your eyes at work, during sport, and around the home is one of the simplest and most impactful things you can do for your long-term vision, and at Boling Vision Center's Optical & Vision Solution Center, we carry the protective eyewear options to make it easy.

Eyes Worth Protecting

Eye injuries are far more common than most people realize, and the numbers are striking: an estimated ninety percent of all eye injuries could have been prevented with appropriate protective eyewear. At Boling Vision Center's INFOCUS Optical departments across all four Northern Indiana locations, our nationally certified opticians help guests find protective eyewear that meets the safety standards required for their specific situation, whether that's on the job, on the field, or around the house. Stop into any of our four Northern Indiana locations to discuss your eye protection needs with one of our opticians.

Who Needs Safety Glasses?

Most people associate safety glasses with construction workers or industrial settings, and while those environments certainly carry significant eye injury risk, they're far from the only ones. Protective eyewear is an important consideration across a much wider range of activities and occupations than most people realize.

Workplace Eye Protection

Many work environments carry eye hazards that aren't immediately obvious. Appropriate protective eyewear helps guard against:

Flying debris and particles
Chemical splashes and fumes
Grease and liquid splatters
Radiation and intense light exposure
Penetrating objects and projectiles
Infection risk from biological materials
Digital eye strain in screen-intensive work environments

Beyond industries like construction and manufacturing, workers in auto repair, healthcare, culinary arts, woodworking, landscaping, and laboratory settings all face meaningful eye hazards in their daily work. OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate eye protection where hazards exist, but having your own properly fitted prescription safety eyewear is always the best guarantee of adequate protection.

Sports and Recreation

Sports-related eye injuries are among the most common and most preventable causes of vision loss in active people. Standard glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses provide no meaningful protection against impact, and in some cases can make an injury worse.

Sport-specific protective eyewear, built to appropriate impact resistance standards, is strongly recommended for any activity with significant eye injury risk, including racquet sports, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and combat sports. Recreational activities, including cycling, shooting, woodworking, and yard work, also carry eye hazards that protective eyewear addresses effectively.

Around the Home

Home improvement projects, yard work, and even cooking expose the eyes to hazards that most people don't take seriously enough. Flying debris from power tools, chemical splashes from cleaning products, and grease splatters in the kitchen are all real risks that a pair of appropriate safety glasses or goggles eliminates.

Safety Standards That Matter

Not all safety eyewear is created equal, and the distinction matters significantly. Standard fashion frames and lenses, even those marketed as durable, are not designed to withstand the impact forces that safety eyewear is built to resist.

All of the safety glasses and goggles we carry at Boling Vision Center conform to the standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which specifies minimum requirements for impact resistance, optical quality, and coverage for both basic and high-impact applications. ANSI-certified eyewear provides a meaningful and reliable level of protection that non-certified eyewear simply cannot guarantee.

I would highly recommend this office!

Jackie Wagner

Safety Eyewear Options

Our INFOCUS Optical departments carry a comprehensive range of protective eyewear options to meet the needs of every guest, including those who require prescription lenses.

Prescription Safety Glasses

For guests who require vision correction, prescription safety glasses combine accurate optical correction with the impact resistance and coverage that ANSI-certified safety eyewear provides. Wearing contact lenses under non-prescription safety glasses is a common but inadequate solution; prescription safety glasses ensure that both vision and protection are fully addressed.

Polycarbonate Lenses

Polycarbonate is the material of choice for safety lenses, offering significantly greater impact resistance than standard lens materials while remaining lightweight and comfortable. It also provides inherent UV protection, making it an excellent choice for outdoor safety applications.

Photochromic Safety Lenses

For guests who work or play in variable light conditions, photochromic safety lenses automatically adapt to changing light levels while maintaining the impact resistance required for the application. They eliminate the need to switch between clear and tinted safety eyewear as conditions change.

Safety Goggles

For environments with higher hazard levels, including chemical splash risk or very fine airborne particles, safety goggles provide a more complete seal around the eye than safety glasses. We carry goggles suitable for a range of workplace and laboratory applications.

Sports Protective Eyewear

Sport-specific protective eyewear is designed to stay securely in place during vigorous activity, withstand the impact forces specific to the sport, and, in many cases, accommodate prescription lenses. Our opticians help athletes select the right protective eyewear for their specific sport and prescription needs.

Occupational Lenses for Screen-Intensive Work

For guests whose primary eye hazard is digital eye strain from prolonged screen use, occupational lenses optimized for intermediate viewing distances, combined with appropriate anti-reflective and blue light filtering treatments, provide a meaningful protective solution for the modern desk environment.

Virtual Try-On

For guests who want to explore frame options before visiting the office, our Virtual Try-On Tool allows you to browse thousands of frames from home and see how they look on your face.

Our opticians are also available virtually to discuss your safety eyewear needs and make recommendations based on your specific situation.

Why Choose Boling Vision Center?

At Boling Vision Center's Optical & Vision Solution Center, safety eyewear is treated with the same professional care and attention as any other optical product. Our nationally certified opticians understand the standards, the options, and the specific demands of different work and sport environments, and they take the time to ensure every guest leaves with eyewear that genuinely protects their vision. With four Northern Indiana locations, an on-site INFOCUS Optical Lab, and over 65 years of trusted community care, we're the practice Northern Indiana trusts to keep their eyes safe. Amazing happens here.

woman smiling | abstract art | binocular eyepieces of a slit lamp

Safety Glasses Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use my regular glasses as safety glasses?

No. Standard prescription glasses, even those with polycarbonate lenses, are not designed or certified to meet the impact resistance requirements of ANSI-certified safety eyewear. In some impact scenarios, standard frames can actually increase the risk of injury by directing frame fragments toward the eye. Proper safety glasses or goggles are the only reliable means of protection.

Does my employer have to provide safety glasses?

OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate eye and face protection wherever hazards exist in the workplace. However, employer-provided safety eyewear is often non-prescription and one-size-fits-all. Investing in your own properly fitted prescription safety glasses ensures both accurate vision correction and optimal protection, and many employers offer reimbursement programs for prescription safety eyewear.

What sports require protective eyewear?

Any sport with a significant risk of eye injury benefits from protective eyewear. Racquet sports, basketball, baseball and softball, hockey, lacrosse, and combat sports are among the highest-risk activities. Shooting sports, cycling, and water sports also carry meaningful eye hazards. Our opticians can advise on the appropriate level and type of protection for your specific sport.

Are sports goggles appropriate for children?

Yes, and they're particularly important for young athletes whose eyes are still developing and who may be at higher risk of amblyopia or other vision complications if an eye injury occurs. Many youth sports organizations strongly encourage or require protective eyewear, and we're experienced in fitting children with sport-specific protective options that are appropriately sized and comfortable enough to actually be worn.

Can polycarbonate lenses be made in my prescription?

Yes. Polycarbonate lenses are available across a wide range of prescriptions, including single-vision, bifocal, and progressive designs. They are the standard lens material recommendation for safety eyewear and are also widely used in children's glasses and sports eyewear for their combination of impact resistance, light weight, and inherent UV protection.