Going Ballistic Over Sunwear, Daily!
How Getting ANSI Makes Sense

By Mark Mattison-Shupnick, ABOM

Release Date:	February 2010	Expiration Date:	March 31, 2011
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this program, the participant should be able to: Understand the severity that outdoor, everyday activities play in the occurrence of eye injuries. Learn how safety sunwear and Z87.1-2003 compliance can provide everyday protection. Understand how a safety sunwear program can benefit the employers in your area and contribute to office growth.
Faculty/Editorial Board:
Mark Mattison-Shupnick, ABOM, FNAO is currently director of education and training, program development for Jobson Information Services LLC, has more than 35 years of experience as an optician, was senior staff member of SOLA International and is a frequent lecturer and trainer.
Credit Statement:
This course is approved for one (1) hour of CE credit by the American Board of Opticianry (ABO). Course # STWJMI302-2
This course is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Wiley X

I have a proposition for you. First, understand how eye injuries can be prevented with safety sunwear and second, make sure that one of the sunwear collections carried in your office is Z87.1-2003 safety compliant. Why? Because the safety message resonates with patients (as long as the sunglasses are also great looking) and it’s a real business opportunity since patients understand the benefit and value.

According to Prevent Blindness America (PBA), more than 850,000 Americans injure their eyes annually during home and work activities or while playing sports. Yet experts say wearing safety glasses and taking other common-sense precautions can prevent or reduce the severity of most eye injuries. (Adapted from allaboutvision.com)

It’s easy to overlook outdoor eye safety since it’s inconvenient to stop what you’re doing and put on a pair of safety glasses, especially if they’re ugly and industrial. But think about the alternative, partial vision from an injury to one or both eyes. Objects can be moving at high speed—up to 150ft/sec and with such energy it can do irreversible damage. It may change your life because it changes your ability to do the normal everyday things that you do now—driving, cycling, working, reading, writing, traveling, etc. It’s time to go ballistic over sunwear, safety sunwear that is.

For example, what if an amblyopic (lazy eye) child (20/50, best correction left eye) has a playground injury to the good right eye that made the right eye also 20/50 (or worse). That would mean that this kid would never be able to drive as an adult. Driving requires 20/40 or better, in one eye or both, in most states. As a result, this can limit the lifetime opportunities for work and play.

Instead imagine a simple, yet elegant solution. Sun or clear glasses that look great yet also meet safety requirements. That would simply prevent almost any of those sight robbing random accidents. How should sunwear be chosen?

GOOD LOOKING AND PROTECTIVE

Okay, now fire-up that leaf-blower, wait did you put on your sunglasses? If they are Z87.1-2003 compliant, they fit the bill. Looking great in them is also better, after all who knows who will see you, sweat dripping from your brow, muscles rippling… enough of the fantasy but looking good is an “expectation” of every customer.

Good Looking —What comes to mind? Italian design, sleek and shiny surfaces, contours, colors and textures that add design features that add to functional fit. After all, a big part of the reason that many people won’t wear glasses that are safe is they look like safety glasses.

So, the selection of the right safety sunwear to carry suggests that they should first be good-looking and then protective. (Most patients choose based on looks.)

Lens color and treatment (AR and mirrors) add to their overall style. So a variety of lens colors is critical to meet style preference. Color and selective filtration also improves contrast, clarity and can add to the wearer’s visual performance.

Protective — The key to protection is Z87.1-2003 compliance for both the frame and the lenses (see Z87.1 insert). Frames best deliver snug fit, wrap-around style, lens retention upon impact and an ability to seal the eye and orbit from dust, dirt and wind when needed. Protective lens attributes are Z87.1-2003 impact resistance (see Z87.1 insert), 100 percent UV absorption, photochromic properties if needed, extreme durability and scratch resistance. Combine looks with protection and it will meet the benefit, style and value story of any office.

CRITICAL FRAME & LENS COMPONENTS

What are the critical components needed to deliver the safety promise to patients? The following facts provide the features of lens and frame and the benefits that patients receive.

Impact Compliance, High Mass, High Velocity — Projectiles and debris while playing outdoors or working around the house can pose threats to the eyes. Be sure that frames and lenses have been subjected to rigorous certification tests, even withstanding (20) .25 inch caliber steel balls fired at a rate of 150 feet-per-second.

High Mass Compliance

High Velocity Test

For high mass compliance, frames and lenses must withstand the weight of a 1.1lb projectile dropped from a height of 50”. The lens must remain intact and be retained in the frame and no part of the frame can be detached. That pretty much ensures they’ll stand up to anything your customers will encounter. Z87.1-2003 High Velocity testing requires that frames and lenses withstand the impact of a .25 inch diameter steel ball fired at a speed of 150fps. Absolutely no contact with the head-form is allowed.

Frame to Face Seals — A seal between the frame and the face can prevent fine dust, debris and pollen, as well as wind from getting behind the frame. This can cause long- term eye irritation if patients ride a bicycle or motorcycle to work or when outdoors during allergy season, and contribute to Dry Eye Syndrome. Dry Eye problems affect more than 10 million Americans. Constant dehydration, and exposure to dust and pollen because of the lack of correct eyewear can exacerbate the problem. In addition, peripheral glare, and light sneaking around the top and edges of a sunglass causes squint and reduced optical clarity. Add sunwear with attachable face seals for better patient protection and more merchandising opportunities.

Ventilation Reduces Fogging — Lenses can fog in the most inopportune times, dramatically impairing vision. This is a common problem riding a motorcycle or bicycle. Many riders have tried the variety of anti-fog treatments for lenses but that alters AR coatings and can wear off quickly. Frames that have a ventilation system built in facilitate airflow, reducing heat and fogging thereby allowing optimal vision on the trail or road.

Polycarbonate, Polarized, Photochromic and AR Lenses — The most impact resistant materials are a logical choice for the best sunwear—and impact has very specific requirements for Z87.1-2003 compliance. So choose lenses using polycarbonate or Trivex/NXT for plano or Rx prescriptions. For Rxs, labs that deliver Z87.1-2003 work understand the material and thickness requirements.

Glare off water and other light colored surfaces can diminish vision at critical moments and cause eye fatigue. The light reflected can also be intensified up to 100 times and become blinding glare. Polarized lenses are the only lenses that eliminate blinding glare, reduce scatter and add to the comfort of sunglasses.

Changing light conditions require lenses that also change to let the right amount of light through for the sharpest vision. Fixed tint sunlenses may be too dark in some conditions. Photochromic lenses make sunwear adapt to a wearer’s needs.

Lens surfaces add reflections and reduce image quality. Dark lenses also make surface reflections appear brighter and more visible. To remove them and make vision crisp always deliver AR lenses. So, the best patient sunwear solutions provide choices of polycarbonate, polarized and photochromic lenses with anti-reflective coatings.

24-HOUR PROTECTION RESONATES WITH THE CONSUMER

With the right tools technically (frames and lenses), thinking and talking about safety can be a change that many offices can implement. For some, it may require a culture change. However, safety is not unlike thinking about patient wellness and health and wellness are top-of-mind today. That makes safety a 24-hour responsibility. So, selling safe plano and Rx eye and sunwear can meet that demand and you can meet that goal.

Imagine that it’s your office’s patients that are no longer one of the more than one million Americans having lost some degree of sight due to eye injury. You’ve prevented some of the more than 40 percent of disabling eye injuries occurring around the home, while playing sports or participating in outdoor recreational activities. Or, lucky for your patients that a rock kicked up by a lawn mower traveling at 60 mph didn’t shatter their sunglasses or worse; had they been wearing ordinary frames and lenses…

MORE THAN 10 MILLION AMERICANS SUFFER FROM DRY EYE SYNDROME

A facial cavity seal is an unusual option for most sunglass wearers because they typically have never seen one and are not aware they’re available. But if dry eye is a problem, then a facial cavity seal is a terrific solution. It’s also very convenient to be able to remove the seal when not needed so that allows for multiple functionality.

Be sure to place point of purchase displays that describe this as one solution for dry eye so that patients will notice. Train everyone in the office to ask each patient whether they have dry eye or ensure that during a taking of a medical history and during the eye exam, the question is asked. The right sunwear with any prescribed medications can make patients more comfortable.

WHAT ABOUT EMPLOYERS’ PROGRAMS

If an employee receives an eye injury outside of work, they’re unavailable to do their job. And, with the right eyewear and sunwear on the job, the number of work related injuries could be decreased. If the safety sunwear is also “good looking” employees will be encouraged to wear them off the job and that adds to 24-hour protection so everyone wins. It’s an inexpensive benefit but one that engenders loyalty.

So, consider visiting the local businesses in your area that have exposure to eye injuries, or where there are 10 or more employees. Setting up a safety sunwear program increases dress eyewear sales and recommendations to other family members and friends. In addition, offering safety Rx solutions in the same sunwear frames will drive even more business from employer safety eyewear programs.

Safety sunwear demonstration and fitting kit

THE OPPORTUNITY — SET UP A SAFETY SUNWEAR PROGRAM

Visit employers in your area with a kit that shows the products and a booklet that describes the services that your office can deliver. An Rx and plano safety sunwear program can be set up to have employees visit your office or for convenience, have an optician visit the place of employment. With a current prescription, a pupillometer and frame kit, orders can be taken for subsequent dispensing. Contact companies that are already part of the safety Rx business or for safety sunwear contact Wiley X.

ADD EYEWEAR THAT MEETS THE OCCUPATION

New and unique to Wiley X is a new sunglass line called Black Ops. It’s fun and at the same time serious. Many practices have law enforcement, fire, military and volunteer officers as part of their patient base. Here’s a new product designed to go from job to street. With the Wiley X experience supplying military needs for decades, they converted a line of sunwear that lives the 24-hour protection target.

It includes options for their patented foam insert, active rubber accents so eyewear doesn’t move when worn and high velocity frames and lenses. They can provide the everyday confidence a wearer expects even when in harm’s way.

Matte black, sleek design, exceeds Z87.1-2003 requirements, facial cavity inserts available, high-velocity frames and lenses

GETTING ANSI MAKES SENSE

Every practice can afford to go a little or even a lot ANSI. After all, you use ANSI everyday for everyday clear eyewear. For safety sunwear, that means moving quickly to capture the opportunity. It will differentiate your office. It provides a new way to make sunwear a larger part of your business and the average office would benefit from increased sunglass sales.

By implementing a plano and Rx safety sunwear program outside the office with employers in your area, it extends your reach and identity. It can attract new patients as well as their family and friends. Going ballistic can result in increased business opportunities and growth.