Reflective Safety Glasses
 

Over six years of attending FRC events as a spectator, and now four as a team member, I, and other FRC team members I know, have had safety inspectors ask us to switch out our lightly reflective (they're not like sunglasses) safety glasses for non-reflective ones. FRC's guidelines on the matter:

What is the reasoning behind the illegality of reflective safety glasses? I've heard reasons ranging from "we must be able to see where you're looking when pushing a robot cart" (seems a little ridiculous to me) and "If you're hurt, the paramedics will need to be able to see your eyes" (if this is the case, why couldn't they just remove the safety glasses?). I must be missing something.

What do you think? Is there a very good reason or explanation that I'm missing? Do you agree with this rule? If you were in charge of FIRST safety guidelines, would you keep this guideline in the books?

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

I had this rule pulled on me at Orlando. I'm just an alumni mentor now(I visited the team a few times this year and went to competition); I really didnt have much to do when in the pits more than just getting a few things and pretty much walking around and looking at other robots. I really didnt see the need for my safety glasses to not be tinted. I think this rule is ridiculous for non-drive team members of teams or anyone that goes to the pits.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

As an LRI I find it necessary to be able to see people's eyes. I agree with FIRST on this one. People communicate through verbal, body language and eye contact. You may not think it is important but it is one of the tools we use to make sure that people are listening and understanding.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

I don't think we are talking about some kind of FBI/ CIA blackout shades or one way mirrors here. I had this pulled on me during Orlando this year with safety glasses that where not even reflective beyond the point of creating a glint under field lighting.

The point is if a light tint is acceptable to prevent lights from getting in your eyes then I think a slightly reflective surface should also be acceptable.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

The rules are you must be able to see your eyes. That way it takes out the guess work of if the reflective glasses are dark or light.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

This isn't an unusual restriction. Every industrial workplace I've visited has had the same restriction. Mirrored and tinted safety glasses are designed for outdoor use, not indoors.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

Observe the CD safety smiley: ::safety:: Tinted glasses, with eyeballs visible.

One of my favorite aspects of the rule is that it keeps people who are trying to look cool by wearing tinted glasses from looking like fools for wearing outdoor gear indoors. (I don't recommend wearing parkas or bathing suits into the pit area, either.) Many FRC rules are there to HELP teams, remember. I think there is also a rule about having appropriate team logos and such. It just contributes to an overall more professional appearance for the event, which benefits all the teams.

There is also the simple fact that when working indoors we generally need MORE photons hitting our eyeballs, rather than fewer, particularly for close-up or detailed work. Here's a good summary of illumination levels http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/li...oms-d_708.html

If I had to rewrite the rule, though, I'd get rid of the exceptions for lightly tinted glasses unless medically necessary. Clear safety glasses are more than adequate for indoor use.

Jason

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

I could see if you were a driver or stood in a robots field of view their lights could reflect and it could possibly fool the targeting system (or whatever the team uses camera for). But just in the pits I don't know why you can't wear them.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

But is this a good enough reason to tell teams who have already purchased 50 slightly reflective safety glasses that they aren't allowed to use them? It seems just a little ridiculous.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

Are you really asking if the existence of a rule against them is a good enough reason to keep them from being used?

Teams who buy things prohibited by the rules should not be allowed to ignore the rule just because they ignored the rule and bought something prohibited by the rules.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

While I agree with you primarily, I disagree about disallowing lightly tinted glasses. A couple years back, Team 2220 was given a large amount of safety glasses that had blue tinted lenses. Not only were they as easy to work in as our clear glasses, but they also looked good with our team colors and let us distinguish ourselves from other teams.

I get the rules against reflective glasses (for reasons that have previously been brought forth), but I think that lightly tinted glasses are a good way of giving a team a little bit more spirit while keeping them safe. Plus, in my experience, kids like to wear safety glasses that look cool over safety glasses that look "normal." I think we had less kids forgetting their glasses that year that we ever had before, which saved us a lot of hassle at competition!

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

My problem with this rule is not more so the fact that you can't have them. My problem the fact that I have actually been to an event where I was told to remove the glasses I had (understandable, but I grabbed what I could), then the Head Ref at said event was wearing heavily tinted glasses.

I was bothered in the sense that the Safety Judges/Competition personnel actually didn't enforce this among everyone who attended the event, volunteer, or spectator.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

Thank you. I think the real question is, "Why do you need those slightly reflective glasses?" Is it image?

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

The answer is that you don't (although I'm relatively confident that anyone would argue that reflective safety glasses are better than no safety glasses).

Aesthetics can come at a cost, but that cost should never be safety.

Re: Reflective Safety Glasses
 

Could it be that they don't want to confuse them with non-rated sunglasses? If you let it go tinted and/or reflective, then people could wear sunglasses and claim they are safety glasses, and it would result in a lot of debate. Just a thought.