Photochromic Safety Glasses — What Are They, and Are They Worth It?
You know the drill. In through the site cabin, out onto the scaffold, back into the plant room, out again to the van. Every time the light changes, so does what you need on your face — clear lenses for wiring in a dim loft, a tint for standing on a roof in September sun.
Most lads solve this by carrying two pairs. One goes missing. One gets sat on. Neither is in your pocket when you actually need it.
What photochromic actually means
Photochromic lenses change themselves. Walk outside and UV hits the lens, the tint builds in under a minute. Walk back in and it clears again on its own — no swapping, no second pair rattling round the van door pocket.
Our Gun Grey Photochromic pair does exactly that: clear indoors, tinted in daylight, one lens for the whole day. They're EN ISO 16321-1 certified same as the rest of the range, anti-scratch coated, anti-fog treated, with full side shields and a top shield for the bits flying in from above.
Built for the fog, too
Going from a cold scaffold into a warm plant room is exactly when lenses steam up. The photochromic pair is anti-fog treated, so the lens that's adjusting to the light isn't fogging up on you at the same time. That's the whole point — one pair that copes with the swap, both ways.
Who they actually suit
Anyone in and out all day — electricians moving between plant rooms and roofs, scaffolders up and down, anyone whose job doesn't sit in one light condition for long. If you spend your whole shift indoors, a clear pair does the same job for less.
What it doesn't do
Photochromic lenses aren't instant. There's a short lag while the tint builds or clears, same as any photochromic lens on the market, not just ours. And because the tint is triggered by UV, don't expect it to darken much behind a van windscreen — it's built for when you're out in the daylight, not sat in the cab.
We wrote up the certification standard itself here if you want the full detail: What Is EN ISO 16321? And if you're kitting out for site generally, Best Safety Glasses for Electricians UK covers the rest of the range.
— Fraser, Trade Shades founder, electrician by day