Safety glasses - I know, they're boring, but now I'm a convert

[Tim Neill]

I didn't used to worry much about eye protection while marshalling, until the opening BTCC meeting.

I was on Post 4 at Brands, at least 15 feet back from the Armco, when I was 'shot' in the face by a large piece of gravel. Not from a spinning/skidding car, it must have just been 'spat out' like a bullet when the car passed by, and I never even saw it coming. It hit me an inch from my right eye and left me with a novel lump for a few days.

Now I'm wearing stylish new safety glasses ...

[PVDA]

My sun glasses are always safety rated and pretty much always have been because there's always the chance of being hit by a stone or debris and you've only got one set of eyes.

Of course those of you in the UK only need safety glasses as you never get enough sun (unlike those of us in the colonies) to need sun glasses

[Steve Fox]

I was converted a good while ago after a "shot" in the arm.
These are the ones I use:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1506769611...84.m1423.l2649

[ascarracinguk]

I remember when I was a kid, sitting at mcleans for the fia gt race, a clk gtr went off, and a single piece of gravel managed to find its way thought the catch fencing and hit a woman on the finger while eating an ice
cream, broke her finger n ended up with ice cream all over her dress!

[Eljay]

I'm also a convert to safety glasses and always have a pair with me. Arco have a website and stores all over the country that do a number of ranges including tinted and yellow lenses at about £5.

[Retired]

Of course those of you in the UK only need safety glasses as you never get enough sun (unlike those of us in the colonies) to need sun glasses [/QUOTE]

That's a bit unfair. I remember once marshalling at Cadwell Park in about 2010 I think it was and the sun was shining and it was very hot. About 18 degrees or something like that. Needed sunglasses that day.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by Retired

About 18 degrees

Celsius or Fahrenheit ??

[Steve Fox]

Originally Posted by Retired

The sun was shining and it was very hot. About 18 degrees or something like that.

Oh, Happy days!

[snoz wanger]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

I remember when I was a kid, sitting at mcleans for the fia gt race, a clk gtr went off, and a single piece of gravel managed to find its way thought the catch fencing and hit a woman on the finger while eating an ice
cream, broke her finger n ended up with ice cream all over her dress!

Thats nothin.......i remember when i was 4, i was sat at Lodge and a piece of flint came off the offside rear tyre of Jochen Rindts Lotus, hit me on the arm, deflected over the wall hitting an old bloke on a bike who was just passing....he headed it back over it hit a tree shot into the paddock, this caused a spark near the fuel pumps and the whole Circuit exploded.......

[Greem]

You try telling that to kids today, they won't believe you...

[Tim Neill]

Thats nothin.......i remember when i was 4, i was sat at Lodge and a piece of flint came off the offside rear tyre of Jochen Rindts Lotus, hit me on the arm, deflected over the wall hitting an old bloke on a bike who was just passing....he headed it back over it hit a tree shot into the paddock, this caused a spark near the fuel pumps and the whole Circuit exploded.......

Wonderful! Thank you - made my morning.

[SouthportFC Fan]

'There I was in the Members' Enclosure at 'The Track' enjoying a very pleasant picnic prepared by Mrs Bridges, our cook, when Tim Birkin's Speed Six came passed and fired up a piece of genuine Carrera marble !! Damn me if it didn't shatter the magnum of Bolly that the butler had just opened ....'

The right crowd and no crowding don't ya know !!

[The Fat Clerk]

I always take and wear them at Santa Pod.

[Stone-kicker]

I got hit between the eyes by a stone at a Britcar night race a few years back, didn't see it coming in the dark.

That's one reason I'm usually seen wearing a pair of Oakleys http://uk.oakley.com/community/news/bloody-eye

Including my smilie

[Richard Duvall]

I always wear safety glasses when there is gravel on my post. I've got a choice of clear, tinted and dark. I think I got them from Best Workwear and only cost about £2.50 each. At the end of last year I incurred my first injury while marshalling; ducked behind the armco with an in-coming and got showered and something got me behind the ear; if I had been facing forward Ihope my glasses would have saved me. I recall that day going out to help with the clear up and made the most basic mistake of picking up a lump of car without gloves on! Amazing how hot that piece of exhaust was 10 mins after the incident!

[yellowspanner]

Its funny how most roadside workers have a ppe policy requiring eye protection and helmets when most marshals wear neither .

[m1fcf]

Originally Posted by yellowspanner

Its funny how most roadside workers have a ppe policy requiring eye protection and helmets when most marshals wear neither .

I think the 'fear' of H&S is much higher with an employer paying an employee to work alongside an open highway than it is with a volunteer beside a race track, and as such the 'incentive' is greater to ensure people are wearing the right kit.

[SouthportFC Fan]

Originally Posted by Stone-kicker

I got hit between the eyes by a stone at a Britcar night race a few years back, didn't see it coming in the dark.

That's one reason I'm usually seen wearing a pair of Oakleys http://uk.oakley.com/community/news/bloody-eye

Including my smilie

Maybe the reason you didn't see the stone coming was because you were wearing sun glasses in the dark !!

Have you ever been an extra in 'Miami Vice' per chance ?

I think the smilie's shades look more like Rayban Wayfarers, almost as cool as my vintage Aviators....

[JimW]

Originally Posted by yellowspanner

Its funny how most roadside workers have a ppe policy requiring eye protection and helmets when most marshals wear neither .

It is the bliss of being able to do what you think is sensible for you in the circumstances and then take the responsibility for the consequences of that decision.

It's called being a grown-up with more than two brain cells to rub together.

Regards

Jim

[yellowspanner]

Originally Posted by JimW

It is the bliss of being able to do what you think is sensible for you in the circumstances and then take the responsibility for the consequences of that decision.

It's called being a grown-up with more than two brain cells to rub together.

Regards

Jim

Jim that is incredibly sensible and may well be why a bad day on the bank is better than a good day at work

[paddy]

Originally Posted by JimW

It is the bliss of being able to do what you think is sensible for you in the circumstances and then take the responsibility for the consequences of that decision.

It's called being a grown-up with more than two brain cells to rub together.

Regards

Jim

The trouble is that the consequences may not just be yours. I'm a retired firefighter and I would not have done my job without the correct PPE not because of the legal consequences, but to protect myself. An object in the eye can have serious consequences that go well beyond your own damaged eye. The ambulance that takes you to hospital, the nurses, doctors and other staff that deal with you, the resources that you require for treatment and the possibility that an injury impacts long term on your life and you family's. I'm constantly amazed that helmets and eye protection aren't worn trackside, particularly where there is no other protection from flying debris. You won't see the stuff that hits you.
I know health and safety is given a bad name by some people but the opposite of course can be illness and death.

[JimW]

Originally Posted by paddy

The trouble is that the consequences may not just be yours. I'm a retired firefighter and I would not have done my job without the correct PPE not because of the legal consequences, but to protect myself. An object in the eye can have serious consequences that go well beyond your own damaged eye. The ambulance that takes you to hospital, the nurses, doctors and other staff that deal with you, the resources that you require for treatment and the possibility that an injury impacts long term on your life and you family's. I'm constantly amazed that helmets and eye protection aren't worn trackside, particularly where there is no other protection from flying debris. You won't see the stuff that hits you.
I know health and safety is given a bad name by some people but the opposite of course can be illness and death.

Sorry Paddy, but that's the sort of public sector b******t I am so pleased not to have to sign up to.

Jim

[Tim Neill]

Well, it's reassuring to learn that only public sector workers get hit with stones ... It's not b******t, it's common sense.

[peckstar]

I find it interesting that there are people who would not wear them. It seems so old fashioned to not wear them

Considering how little cost they are, and the benefit of having them, It seems like a no brainer.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by yellowspanner

Its funny how most roadside workers have a ppe policy requiring eye protection and helmets when most marshals wear neither .

Roadside workers are not watching the approaching traffic as they're doing their job but our job involves watching the traffic going past so we will see them coming.