Toolbox Talk · ~5 minutes

# 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.

[Print the sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[All toolbox talks](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)

## 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:

[Toolbox talk sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[Eyewash station inspection](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=eyewash-station-inspection#form-library)
[PPE issue & inspection record](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=ppe-issue-inspection-record#form-library)

## A new talk every week.

The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.

[This week’s talk](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)
[Next: Lightning & Severe Weather](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/lightning-severe-weather.html)

[The New Worker's First Week](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/new-worker-first-week.html)
[All 126 contractor forms](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools#form-library)

## Next, from Blue Crane

- [**Field Level Hazard Assessment**The form the crew fills in before the work starts](https://bluecraneworks.ca/field-level-hazard-assessment-flha.html)

- [**126 free printable forms**The whole Canadian form library, no account needed](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools.html)

- [**Document Control Systems**Sign-offs, certs and safety records, provable in under a minute](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/document-control.html)

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Source: https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/eye-protection