Safety glasses are required for my job at all times on the factory floor. I have had good experience with Patriot brand over-the-glasses style safety glasses; I can wear them for 12+ hour shifts without discomfort. They do scratch, but if you take close care of them that isn’t an issue. I usually don’t realize that I’m wearing them at all.
I’ve used side-shields with my normal glasses, but only on occasions where safety glasses were obligatory but I didn’t feel were necessary. Whenever there is the potential for flying bits of metal in the air, I will always put on a beefy pair of safety glasses that fully protect my eyes.
I assume that you are surveying the off-the-shelf, non-prescription safety glasses. Most large companies supply custom prescription or non-prescription safety glasses to their employees, indistinguishable from regular glasses (except for the side shields).
I do not wear prescription glasses, but like some of the other mentors, I find that as I get older I do need reading glasses at times. I just use regular drug store reading glasses, not true prescription glasses, but they can be a pain to wear along with standard safety glasses.
I tried using some safety glasses that were sold as reading safety glasses in a power that seemed good for use at normal working distances, but they were mostly sold with those little bifocal bumps that never really were in the right place. I also tried the stick on lenses with similar poor results. Working with electronics or mechanical devices is different from reading with a book on your lap, and I find I need to hold my head at odd angles to use these bi-focal type of safety glasses. After using them for a while I end up with a stiff neck.
What I really wanted was a pair of off the shelf safety reading glasses where the whole lens had the same level of magnification. I finally found what I wanted. The product is called Mag-saf and is available for about $15 from Amazon and other places. (No connection) They are plastic and probably scratch easily, but I have never had a problem because I always wear them with a strap so that I am never tempted to put them down where I shouldn’t. Works for me. I think they are great.
A clip-on loupe magnifier could also help in similar situations. A quick search showed monocular versions for as low as 5 dollars and binocular versions for as low as $7.50, the higher-end models exceed $200.00, but those are probably overkill.
The cool thing about these is that many are somewhat adjustable.