On worksites, eye protection is not just about comfort or reducing glare; it is about preventing injury. While sunglasses and safety glasses may look similar at a glance, they are designed for very different purposes. The key difference lies in structural integrity, impact resistance, and compliance with occupational safety standards, particularly AS/NZS 1337.1, which governs eye and face protection for workplace use.
Sunglasses are primarily intended to protect the eyes from sunlight and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Safety glasses, by contrast, are engineered to withstand mechanical hazards such as flying debris, dust, splashes, and high-speed particles, while maintaining lens and frame integrity under impact. This distinction becomes critical when selecting eyewear for work environments.
What AS/NZS 1337.1 requires of safety eyewear
AS/NZS 1337.1:2010 sets out the minimum performance requirements for non-prescription occupational eye protectors in Australia and New Zealand. Its focus is on ensuring that eyewear does not fail in a way that could cause eye injury when exposed to foreseeable workplace hazards. This includes testing for impact resistance, lens retention, frame strength, coverage, and optical quality.
Safety glasses certified to AS/NZS 1337.1 must pass defined impact tests and are marked accordingly. These markings indicate the level of impact protection provided, such as low, medium, high, or extra-high impact, and allow wearers and employers to verify that the eyewear is appropriate for the task. In many work environments, medium impact protection is the minimum requirement, particularly where there is a risk of flying particles or debris. Regulatory guidance in New Zealand consistently emphasises selecting eye protection that matches the hazard level and is correctly marked for compliance.
What sunglasses are designed to do – and what they are not
Sunglasses sold in Australia and New Zealand fall under a different regulatory framework, most commonly AS/NZS 1067.1, which addresses sunglasses and fashion spectacles for general use. These standards focus on UV protection, light transmission, and suitability for activities such as driving. Australia also enforces a mandatory consumer safety standard that requires sunglasses to block harmful UV radiation in the 280–400 nm range.
While compliant sunglasses provide excellent protection against sun glare and UV exposure, they are not automatically designed to withstand occupational hazards. They are not required to meet the same impact resistance, lens retention, or coverage requirements as safety eyewear under AS/NZS 1337.1. As a result, a pair of sunglasses can be fully UV-compliant yet still be unsuitable and unsafe for use on a worksite where mechanical hazards are present.
In short, UV protection alone does not equate to workplace eye protection.
Structural integrity: the critical difference on worksites
The most important distinction between safety glasses and sunglasses is how they behave under impact. Safety glasses are engineered so that if struck by a particle, the lens does not shatter dangerously, dislodge from the frame, or deform in a way that exposes the eye. Frames are designed to hold the lens securely and often incorporate wraparound designs or side shields to protect against hazards approaching from the side.
Sunglasses, even high-quality ones, are typically engineered for comfort, style, and everyday durability – not for resisting high-speed or repeated impacts. In a workplace environment, this difference in structural design can be the difference between preventing an eye injury and causing one.
When safety glasses must be worn instead of sunglasses
On worksites, the choice between safety glasses and sunglasses should always be driven by hazard exposure, not light conditions alone. If any of the following hazards are present, AS/NZS 1337.1–certified safety eyewear is required. Ordinary consumer sunglasses are not considered adequate protection.
- Flying fragments and objects with low speed or low mass
Work examples: Manual chipping, riveting, spiralling, hammering, handling wire, brick cutting - Small flying particles with medium speed or medium mass
Work examples: Machine disc cutting, scaling, grinding, metal machining, certain woodworking operations, stone dressing - Low-mass, high-speed particles
Work examples: Horticulture and gardening tasks such as lawn mowing and using weed eaters or line trimmers - High-speed particles
Work examples: Using explosive or high-energy power tools - Airborne dust
Work examples: Roadworks, sanding, handling coal or fine particulate materials - Liquid splash, harmful liquids, or corrosives
Work examples: Working with hot bitumen, metal cleaning, plating, handling corrosive substances - Gases and vapours
Work examples: Spray painting, using aerosols, working with hazardous chemicals - Splashing metals and extreme heat exposure
Work examples: Metal casting, molten slag or metal handling, galvanising baths, lead joining - Non-ionising radiation
Work examples: Welding, cutting, furnace work, forging, gas welding - Sun glare and ultraviolet radiation
Work examples: Any outdoor task where mechanical hazards may still be present - Biological liquid splashes or droplet contamination
Work examples: Medical, veterinary, laboratory environments
The correct approach for outdoor worksites
For most outdoor worksites, the safest and most defensible choice is AS/NZS 1337.1 certified safety glasses with tinted lenses. These provide the necessary UV protection while maintaining the impact resistance and structural integrity required for occupational hazards. Some products are designed as “safety sunglasses,” meaning they resemble sunglasses but are tested, certified, and marked as safety eyewear. When correctly certified, these can be suitable alternatives.
Regular consumer sunglasses should only ever be used in genuinely low-hazard environments where there is no foreseeable risk of impact, debris, dust, or splashes, a situation that is relatively rare on active worksites.
Bottom line
Safety glasses and sunglasses are not interchangeable on the worksite. Safety glasses are designed, tested, and marked to protect against physical hazards in accordance with AS/NZS 1337.1, prioritising structural integrity and impact resistance. Sunglasses are designed to manage light and UV exposure for general use and are not inherently suitable for occupational hazards.
When work involves flying particles, dust, chemicals, or equipment capable of generating impact risks, safety glasses (clear or tinted) are the appropriate choice. On worksites, eye protection should always be selected based on hazard first, comfort second, and appearance last.