Everything you need to know about safety products.

As everyone Is aware As of April 4th 2019 Honeywell/Uvex/Glendale has discontinued their Laser Safety Eyewear.  The chart below is intended to be a quick reference guide to help you find the correct replacement glasses to protect your eyes. The chart below has the Honeywell filters number and the Corresponding Phillips Safety Filter code with a HyperLink to the filter that best matches the Honeywell product.

You notice we said Honeywell used to make. That is because of April 2019, Honeywell stopped producing laser glasses. For your convenience, we have listed the comparable Phillips Safety Filter code for most all the Honeywell Filters. They had many specialty filters and had many narrowly defined alignment and high-power filters. We do not have exact matches for some of their filters. But we do have filters that will protect in the same ranges as theirs. It becomes a matter of matching the correct filter to the laser being used in your application. Following is a guide to do just that.

There are different power levels of lasers with different risk levels. They are broken up into categories called   “ Classes”. These are Class 1,2, 3a, 3r and Class 4. These are specified by the power output that is emitted from the laser or the laser device. Class 1 and 2 lasers are what are typically sold as laser pointers or laser projectors for decoration. They have power levels that do not require eye protection. Class 3a and 3 r lasers are typically used for surveying and scientific equipment and may or may not require eye protection. Class 4 lasers are all lasers that emit 500mW (½ Watt) and all require eye protection. It may be fair to say that 90% of all lasers in the world are Class 4 lasers. In fact, just about every Blu Ray or DVD player has at its heart a Class 4 laser. The devices though, if you look at their warning tag, specify that they are a Class 1 Laser device. That is because the laser is contained within the machinery and has guards designed so none of the laser energy is emitted. So, you can see why you need to know more about the laser than what Class it is to determine the eye protection you need.

There are four considerations in picking the correct eyewear you need. Wavelength, Power Level, Beam Visibility and Visible Light Transmission. Most lasers operate at one discreet wavelength, usually measured in nanometers (nm) some common values are 532, 1064 or 10,600nm. If possible, this is the first value you need to find out. It may be on the warning tag, inscribed on the hand piece or in the operator’s manual. The next value is the power level Usually in Watts (W) or Milliwatts (mw) look in the same places for this information. Lasers can operate in the visible spectrum of blue, green, red, etc. or the invisible spectrum either ultraviolet or infra-red. So, in some applications, you will need to see the beam, in many invisible lasers, a red aiming beam is added so you can see where the invisible laser beam is focused. You must make sure that the glasses you pick protect you from the invisible beam but also do not block out the red beam you need to see. This is especially critical regarding alignment and construction lasers where the beam may injure your eyes, but you still need to be able to see it to do the work. It becomes a balancing act between enough protection and still being able to view the beam.

The last consideration is how dark the lenses of the glasses are. This is how much of visible light you can see while wearing them. As you can imagine, if you have to block a visible beam, you are going to also block all of the rest of that wavelength from your view, so you want to pick the glasses that offer the correct protection, and also let the most visible light through them. Protecting you from the laser does not help if you are injured because you can’t see a trip hazard or overhead obstacle because the glasses are so dark.

If you are having difficulty determining the wavelength and/or power level of the laser you are using, you can contact us to help you pick the right glasses. Please try to get as much information as you can. What you are doing with the laser. If you are using handpieces or a flexible fiber. If the laser beam is open or contained. If you have the make and model of the laser or the machine the laser is in that will be very helpful in determining the correct glasses to choose.

We hope this short guide has been helpful to you , and if you have any questions, or need help in picking the correct glasses,  please feel free to call one of our laser experts at 1-866-575-1307 or email us at Sales-Team@phillips-safety.com