Today, walking into an industrial repair shop like CMT, one will notice everyone in safety glasses, but it wasn’t always that way.
Safety glasses are worn by personnel in manufacturing, construction and medical occupations, among others. Today, there are prescription safety glasses and safety glasses made in a variety of materials that are lighter and easier to wear.
African-American inventor P. Johnson received an “eye protector” patent in 1880. The safety glasses we know today were created in 1914 by Garrett Morgan after he received a patent for his safety glasses he used in a gas mask he invented. World War I brought wide-scale use to safety glasses. When automakers saw the success of Morgan’s safety glasses, automakers began using it for car windshields. Finally, in the 1940s, companies made eye protection for wood working and machining workers mandatory.