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First, thank you Mary, I thoroughly enjoyed your respons
e.
It was both snarky and funny. I enjoy a good laugh.
At our Community College, we have been requiring the
students to purchase chemical splash goggles from the lab stockroom for a f
ee
of $5, which is collected during registration (we find this is our average
price when purchasing in bulk). We provide the choice of Sellstrom in
direct
vented goggles, Encon 500 goggles, and Sellstrom mini goggles. We als
o
offer a few XL goggles for those with larger faces. The student is
allowed to choose the goggle that is best suited to their face. If th
ey
find the goggle they chose uncomfortable or that it fogs too quickly, they
are
allowed one week to exchange for another style. The students don̵
7;t
complain about the goggles and, given the opportunity to choose, are more
likely to wear their goggles. Many enjoy trying them on and asking th
eir
friends how they look.
The only complaint we get from the students is that they
are
required to pay the fee each semester. Our response is that the goggl
es
will become scratched and contaminated during the course of the previous
semester and it is in the student’s best interest to have new goggles
for
their comfort and safety.
If the student drops the class within the first two week
s
and returns the goggles, they are given a refund and the goggles are cleane
d
and disinfected for re-use the following semester.
At the end of the semester, many of the students donate
their goggles back. Those that are in excellent condition are cleaned
and
disinfected to be re-sold the following semester (this offsets our costs a
bit).
The others are cleaned and disinfected to be distributed to local schools.&
nbsp;
We are very happy with our system and our students seem
happy, too.
Jamie Smith
Irvine Valley
College
Irvine, CA
From: DCHAS-L
Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On
Behalf Of DAVID KATZ
Sent: Thursday, November 05,
2009
8:31 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Visor
-gogs
If some of you folks recall the old E
ye
and Face Protection film made by Dr. Norman Quam in the 1960's (not sure of
the
exact date), Visor-gogs came out of the tests with a very high rating for
frontal splashes. They were very comfortable to wear and provided a g
reat
field of vision. At the time, Visor-gogs were more expensive than most safe
ty
goggles, but cheap compared to the cost of an eye injury.
I did my graduate work at Villanova University across the hall from Dr
.
Quam's lab. His safety work was pioneering in the field. I reme
mber
when he did safety studies on inpact protection of various materials.
The
lab door was locked, a flashing red light above the door warned everyone th
at
tests were being run, and the sound of gun shots or small explosions could
be
heard. I enjoyed my conversations with Dr. Quam, he contributed to my
early safety training.
We are all aware that our standards o
f
eye protection has changed and we are trying to do the best for ourselves,
our
students and our workers. It's true that for some experiments and
activities safety glasses may suffice. For corrosive and caustic
materials, a splash goggle is necessary. Unfortunately, in our litigi
ous
society, we must always move to the highest level of protection even when t
he
experiments or activities don't warrant it (e.g., working with water or
non-hazardous solutions). No matter what we work with, safety must st
ill
be a state of mind at all times.
In my academic setting, we give the
students the option of purchasing goggles or using goggles in the lab
maintained for multiple users. We provide a UV cabinet and goggles
cleaning solution. We will be moving to requiring students to purchas
e
goggles starting in the fall, but we will still maintain some goggles in th
e
lab for students who forget to bring their goggles. After reviewing a
number of different goggles ( a difficult process since we cannot get
evaluation samples at no cost), we are considering the Uvex classic 9305 CV
A
Safety Goggles. They are soft, comfortable, have a very good fie
ld
of view, and seem to have good anti-fog properties. So far, our stude
nts
seem to like these better than several previous models we used.<
/span>
Rather than spending time
"discussing" Visor-gogs, share your experiences with different br
ands
of goggles to assist others in making informed choices for their laboratori
es.
_____________________________________
____________________________________
David A.
Katz
;
Chemist, Educator, Expert Demonstrator, Science Communicator, and
Consultant
Programs and workshops for teachers, schools, museums, and the publi
c
133 N. Desert Strea
m Dr.
* Tucson, AZ 85745-2277 * USA
voice/fax: (520) 624-2207 * email: dakatz45**At_Symbol_Here**msn.com
Visit my web
site: http://www.chymist.com
_________________________________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
S
ent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:14 AM
S
ubject: [DCHAS-L] Visor-gogs
We are considering returning to use
of
Visor-Gogs® for chemistry lab students, as well as art studio
activities. Our reasoning is that increased comfort will translate in
to
increased compliance, as well as the idea that the less irritated the
wearer’s eyes/face are from the goggles, the less likely one is to re
ach
in to rub with a potentially chemically-contaminated finger.
Please offer feedback, or other
information, positive and negative, on the use of Visor-Gogs® as PPE.
Thanks,
Barry Ferm<
u2:p>
St. Amb
rose
University
