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LENSES

The colour of the lenses plays a fundamental role in the management of brightness in the different work activities and in any environments in which they are used. The effects of an unsuitable protective filter colour may cause: decrease of visual acuity, sensation of effort, headache and even nausea and dizziness. Different colours of the lenses allow to promote or preserve the perception of colours, of contrasts and visual acuity; furthermore, they may reduce reverberation and remove UV rays.

	Recommended for indoor environments with good visibility conditions and for indoor applications, where the protection of the eyes against impact and most common risks is recommended. Moreover, they help to protect against ultraviolet rays. Applications: mechanical indoor work with good visibility conditions.
	Recommended for low-light conditions, cloudiness, mist or fog, seeing as in such conditions, it allows to make objects more visible. Beside perfectly filtering ultraviolet rays (UV) and the blue portion (up to 480 nm) of the visible spectrum, it increases contrast even in low-light conditions. Applications: works in bad weather conditions and in foggy environments, inspection of surfaces, working in tunnels, subsoil working, mines, mechanical working, ultraviolet light exposure, warehouses.
	Recommended for well-lighted environments where light causes a considerable eyestrain. It greatly absorbs both ultraviolet rays (UV) and infrared ones (IR), beside keeping the relative proportions among colours. The absorption is almost constant in the visible spectrum while the wavelength changes, so that the chromatic perception is only slightly altered. Applications: outdoor works, mechanical works with risk of glare, agriculture, building, refineries.
	Recommended for environments where it is necessary to be protected against intense sunlight, glare, reverberation and all those elements which cause considerable eyestrain. The mirrored treatment on the outer surface of the lens reduces transmittance through a greater reflection of the light hitting the lenses. It is obtained, therefore, a significant reduction of the quantity of light that reaches the eyes, getting a high benefit and a visual comfort even after an extended use. Applications: outdoor works with intense sunlight and with risk of glare, agriculture, building, refineries.
	Recommended for intense light and high glow caused by reflective surfaces. Such situations cause a remarkable decrease in eyesight and consequently a considerable eyestrain. This type of lens is able to let the light pass selectively; indeed, acting like “Venetian blinds”, they reduce the overall quantity of light passing through and let only the “useful” light pass through. In this way, reverberation is notably reduced and it is increased the quality of images which appear brighter, consequently even the visual perception is improved. Applications: outdoor works with a high risk of glare, construction site, road work, driving vehicles, oil-plants, work on highly reflective surfaces (water, ice, snow, sand and street surface).
	Recommended for anyone frequently passing from indoor (closed and with low light) to outdoor environments (openair and quite enlightened) and vice versa. Being a clear lens with a light mirrored treatment, it provides optimal view in both indoor and outdoor lighting conditions. This lens allows, therefore, a greater visibility and a high identification of colours and shapes during the use in both conditions and during the passage through these two environments. Applications: works with forklift truck, mechanical works, works with the passage between dark and bright environments.
	Recommended for protection against impacts, ultraviolet rays (UV), infrared rays (IR) and dazzling caused by welding processes. Applications: works in welding and brazing departments (green 3: brazing and gas welding; green 5: gas and oxyfuel welding, foundries and furnaces).

POLARIZATION

The optical radiation commonly called “light” is made up of waves that oscillate in all directions of the three-dimensional space, that is to say vertically, horizontally and along all the angles between these dimensions. When this light meets a reflective surface (water, ice, snow, sand, street surface) it undergoes a process called polarization, that is, it begins to move in a two-dimensional range (vertical and horizontal).

The vertical light brings a lot of useful information to the human eye, enabling colour vision and the perception of contrasts. The horizontal light (polarized light), on the contrary, creates optical noise, disturbing vision and generating the so-called reverberation or glare.

Polarized lenses aim at erasing just those annoying reflections that cause glare. They are, in fact, lenses with a “vertical structure” they absorb the horizontal light rays, responsible for glare, letting only the vertical rays pass, which are “useful” and rich of information.

Vision in bright light condition is greatly improved: natural colours, clear and clean vision even in the distance and less eye fatigue. Therefore, the use of polarized lenses allows to filter radiations selectively, without damaging any detail of the image. In the presence of bright light, in fact, they act as a “Venetian blind” which blocks unwanted rays, while in the absence of glare they behave exactly like traditional lenses.


VISION WITHOUT POLARIZED LENS	VISION WITH POLARIZED LENS

Recommended for intense light and high glow caused by reflective surfaces. Such situations cause a remarkable decrease in eyesight and consequently a considerable eyestrain. This type of lens is able to let the light pass selectively; indeed, acting like “Venetian blinds”, they reduce the overall quantity of light passing through and let only the “useful” light pass through. In this way, reverberation is notably reduced and it is increased the quality of images which appear brighter, consequently even the visual perception is improved. Applications: outdoor works with a high risk of glare, construction site, road work, driving vehicles, oil-plants, work on highly reflective surfaces (water, ice, snow, sand and street surface).

STANDARDS

EUROPEAN STANDARS

EN 166 - General standard
The present European Standard includes construction specifications and functional and performance requirements (optical and mechanical properties) of the various kinds of individual protectors of the eye, as well as marking requirements.
EN 169 - Welding filters
The present European Standard specifies the numbers of scale and the requirements of the transmission factor of the filters designed to protect workers involved with welding, braze welding, arc cutting and plasma jet cutting.
EN 170 - Ultraviolet filters
The present European Standard specifies the numbers of scale and the requirements of the transmission factor of the filters designed to protect against ultraviolet radiations.
EN 172 - Solar protection filters for industrial use
The present European Standard specifies the graduation numbers, the transmission factors and their related requirements of solar protection filters for industrial use.
REACH
In order to safeguard the consumers’ health, the European Union issued the REACH regulation (come into force on 1st June 2007) which forbids the use of certain chemicals. COFRA guarantees that all its safety eyewear comply with the Reach Regulation; they do not contain forbidden or limited substances (Aromatic amines and 4-aminobenzoic acid deriving from azo dyes, heavy metals, phthalates, and so on) and, to guarantee it, all garments and accessories used during production are subjected to controls.
TP TC 019/2011
Technical regulation on the safety of Personal Protective Equipment distributed in the territory of the Eurasian Customs Union

MARKING

The human eye is so one of the most delicate and complex human organs that, being exposed to various risks in work environment, has to be protected. For this reason, safety glasses have to be considered as P.P.E. To protect the worker’s health and safety and to choose the right type of protection, it is important to know and classify these risks, which can be divided as follows:

MECHANICAL RISKS

High-speed particles, chips, metal powders, droplets and liquid splashes.

The protection against mechanical risks is recommended for all those manufacturing operations where there is a risk of accidental eye contact with high-speed objects or particles. Typical operations are: turning, milling, sandblast, riveting, grinding and other operations in which there are frequent projections of solid volatile particles (metal, stone, sand, wood) with a consequent impact at different speeds. According to the impact extent, the hazards may be: lesion of the cornea, laceration of the iris, crystalline lens opacity, irritation, pain and conjunctivitis. It is necessary, then, to choose the appropriate eye protector: glasses for low energy impact “F”, that is to say with impact velocity up to 45 m/s (100,6 mph), and the mid energy safety goggles “B”, that is to say with impact velocity up to 120 m/s (268,4 mph).

OPTICAL RADIATIONS RISKS

Ultraviolet and infrared radiations, glare caused by high intensity light.

Protection against this type of risk is provided by lenses or filters, that refer to appropriate European Standards such as: ultraviolet filters (EN 170), Solar Protection filters for industrial use (EN 172) and welding filters (EN 169).To understand the usefulness of these filters, it is appropriate to explain the basic principles: solar light is propagated through a beam of electromagnetic waves, of which only a part hits earth overcoming the ozone layer.

What we perceive is made up of:

• visible radiations (which compose the so-called “visible spectrum”): they are electromagnetic radiations with a wavelength between 380 and 750 nanometres; they are composed of the only rays visible to the human eye that materialize in the form of colours.

• ultraviolet radiations (UV):they are electromagnetic radiations with a wavelength between 100 and 380 nm. These rays are not visible to the human eye and they can be especially found in environments with the presence of solar light. Moreover, such radiations are harmful to humans because they are made up of magnetic waves which penetrate into the eye thus causing uncomfortable feelings and/ or illnesses after a prolonged exposure (like it happens for the skin: little quantities of UV rays penetrate the skin causing tan, but prolonged exposure could be harmful to health). The risks connected to such radiations may be: lesion of the cornea, conjunctivitis, partial blindness, premature ageing of crystalline and cataract.

• infrared radiations (IR): they are electromagnetic radiations with a wavelength between 780 and 2.000 nm. These radiations are harmful to humans because they emit heat coming from all warm bodies (including the Sun, but even during welding or manufacturing of metals and glass). For this reason, the damages caused by such radiations are perceived in a nearly immediate way (unlike those caused by ultraviolet radiations which, on the other hand, appear later). Actually, we should consider that the ozone layer filters good part of IR rays of solar light which, therefore, come to us in a very restricted and not dangerous quantity; the rays we should defend from are those artificially created, resulting from incandescent materials. The risks connected to such radiations may be: crystalline lens opacity, cataract and partial blindness.

CHEMICAL RISKS

Mist, vapour and gas, liquid aerosols, fine dusts, splashes of chemicals.

Protection against chemical risks is recommended for some types of applications, such as handling of toxic dusts or corrosive liquids, which may represent a potential risk to the eyes of the operator. This risk may occur especially in the medical, agricultural and food fields or in waste management, where micro-organisms may contaminate the operator. The risks to which the operator may be exposed to are: conjunctivitis, ulceration of the cornea, viral infection and partial or total blindness.

LENS TREATMENT

	ANTI-SCRATCH TREATMENT Hardening treatment carried out on the surfaces of the lenses which determines an improvement in terms of resistance against abrasion and therefore, a longer duration in time.
	ANTI-SCRATCH TREATMENT PLUS Hardening treatment carried out on the surfaces of the lenses which determines an improvement in terms of resistance against abrasion and therefore, a longer duration in time. In conformity with the optional EN 166 requirements, eyepieces with anti-scratch treatment PLUS satisfy resistance parameters to the damage of surface caused by thin particles (whose minimum provided requirement is a luminance factor lower than 5 cd/(m2∙lx)), thus offering definitely higher performance compared to the standard anti-scratch treatments on the marketplace. COFRA indicates such performances by specifying the maximum luminance factor (expressed in cd/(m2∙lx)) tested by the certification bodies. Therefore, such eyepieces may be marked with the symbol “K”.
	ANTI-FOG TREATMENT Treatment carried out on the surface of lenses which prevents fogging and, being able to spread condensation formed on the surfaces of the lenses in the passage from cold to hot environments, improves the visibility in critical conditions.
	ANTI-FOG TREATMENT PLUS Treatment carried out on the surface of lenses which prevents fogging and, being able to spread condensation formed on the surfaces of the lenses in the passage from cold to hot environments, improves the visibility in critical conditions. In conformity with the optional EN 166 requirements, eyepieces with anti-fog treatment PLUS satisfy resistance parameters against fogging (whose minimum provided requirement is a resistance for at least 8 s), thus offering definitely higher performance compared to the standard anti-fog treatment on the marketplace. COFRA indicates such performances by specifying the minimum time of resistance to fogging (expressed in seconds) tested by the certification bodies. Therefore such eyepieces may be marked with the symbol “N”.
	UV400 PROTECTION UV400 protection extends protection of lenses beyond the conventional block, rated 380 nm. Such treatment, indeed, allows to filter UV radiations beyond this wavelength, blocking the transmittance of the light spectrum up to 400 nm and helping to protect eyes from a wider range of harmful light rays.
	MIRRORED TREATMENT Carried out externally to the lens, covered with a thin partially reflecting layer, it is a treatment that allows a greater reflection of incident light on the lens itself, reducing most of the light that reaches the eyes. This treatment is suitable and recommended for use in conditions of extremely strong light and where it is necessary to be protected against glare (snow and ice).

FRAME FEATURES

	EXTENDIBLE TEMPLES It consists of a system for length regulation of the temples that allows glasses to adapt optimally to the face of the wearer, thus ensuring the best comfort.
	ADJUSTABLE TEMPLES It consists of a system for grade regulation of the temples that allows glasses to adapt optimally to the face of the wearer, thus ensuring the best comfort.
	VENTILATION SYSTEM System which, permitting the air to flow, allows to minimize the fogging effect.
	SOFT NOSE PAD The soft rubber used for the nose pad improves the comfort of glasses, allowing a prolonged use.
	EYEBROW PROTECTION Protection system which, thanks to its softness, makes glasses more comfortable and provides an excellent impact protection against high-speed particles or against accidental and frontal impacts of the operator.
	SOFT EAR PIECES Situated at the end of temples and made up of soft rubber, they reduce the pressure of the temples on the head of the operator, ensuring a better adherence and a greater comfort especially in the case of prolonged use.