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.
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. Under O. Reg. 213/91, s. 14(3)–(4), the talk is held by a supervisor or a competent person the supervisor appoints — 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:
A new talk every week.
The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.