A face shield, an item of
personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...
(PPE), aims to protect the wearer's entire
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
(or part of it) from
hazard
A hazard is a potential source of harm
Harm is a moral and legal concept.
Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following:
* pain
* death
* disability
* mortality
* loss of abil ity or freedom
* loss of pleasure.
Joel Feinberg giv ...
s such as
flying objects and
road debris
Road debris, a form of road hazard, is debris on or off a road. Road debris includes substances, materials, and objects that are foreign to the normal roadway environment. Debris may be produced by vehicular or non-vehicular sources, but in all ...
, chemical splashes (in
laboratories or in
industry
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery
* The wider industrial sector ...
), or potentially
infectious materials (in
medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
and laboratory environments). Depending on the type used, a face shield may protect its wearer from a physical hazard, chemical splashes, or biological hazards.
Industry
A face shield is intended to protect the wearer's partial or entire face and the eyes from hazards. Face shields should be used with
spectacles
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...
and/or
goggles
Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...
.
Standards
;
ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
(American Standard)
* Mark Z87: Basic impact: Faceshields shall be capable of resisting impact from a 25.4
mm (1
in) diameter steel ball dropped from a height of 127
cm (50 in).
* Mark Z87+: High impact: Faceshields shall be capable of resisting impact from a 6.35 mm (0.25 in) diameter steel ball traveling at a velocity of 91.4
m/s (300 ft/s).
;
EN 166 (European Standard)
These shields are for protection against high-speed particles, and must withstand the impact of a 6 mm nominal diameter steel ball, striking the oculars and the lateral protection at the speed stated.
* Mark A: 190 m/s.
* Mark B: 120 m/s.
* Mark F: 45 m/s.
** ref. EN166
;
CSA
CSA may refer to:
Arts and media
* Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
* Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics
* Crime Syndicate of Amer ...
(Canadian Standard)
Z94.3-15 ''Eye and Face Protectors'' Class 6 relates to face shields, and is divided into 3 sub-classes
*6A – Impact, piercing, splash, head, and glare protection.
*6B – Radiation protection. Also for low heat, splash, glare, and light non-piercing impact protection.
*6C – High-heat applications and light non-piercing impact protection only.
**ref. CSA Z94.3-15
See also
welding helmet A welding helmet is a type of personal protective equipment used in performing certain types of welding to protect the eyes, face, and neck from flash burn, sparks, infrared and ultraviolet light, and intense heat. The modern welding helmet used to ...
.
Materials
*;
Polycarbonate
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
(PC)
Provides excellent
impact resistance
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing.[heat resistance
Thermal resistance is a heat property and a measurement of a temperature difference by which an object or material resists a heat flow. Thermal resistance is the reciprocal of thermal conductance.
* (Absolute) thermal resistance ''R'' in kelvin ...]
and normal
chemical resistance
The chemical resistance of a material or surface can be determined in compliance with ISO 2812 Paints and varnishes – Determination of resistance to liquids – Part 1: Immersion in liquids other than water (ISO 2812-1:2007); German Version EN I ...
.
*;
Cellulose acetate
In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...
(CA)
Provides normal impact resistance, optical quality, heat resistance and good chemical resistance.
Manufacturing
Two methods are used to manufacture face shields:
extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex c ...
and
injection molding
Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...
. Faceshields cut from extrusion sheets provide better
impact resistance
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing.[molecular weight
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioch ...]
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
pellets while injection molding must use lower molecular weight plastic pellets, which provide better
melt flowing property needed by injection molding. For example, even faceshields 0.8 mm thick made of extrusion
polycarbonate
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
sheets can withstand the impact of a 6 mm nominal diameter steel ball traveling at the speed 120 m/s (European standard, protection against high-speed particles – medium energy impact), while injection molding faceshields must have at least 1.5 mm thickness to withstand the same impact. But injection molding can provide more complicated shape than extrusion.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, people from 86 countries engaged in the voluntary production of PPE to supplement traditional supply chains - many of which had been interrupted. They collectively produced a total of 25 million face shields with techniques including
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
,
Laser cutting
Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...
,
Injection molding
Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...
.
File:3D printing of face shields.jpg, 3D printing of face shields during COVID-19 pandemic
File:Headpiece.stl, 3D file for printing a face shield
File:Buckle.stl, Buckle for the face shield
File:FaceShield3D20.jpg, Final shield
Medical
![Covid-19 Brazil - Amazon Health 002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Covid-19_Brazil_-_Amazon_Health_002.jpg)
In
medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
applications, "face shield" refers to a variety of devices used to protect a medical professional during a procedure that might expose them to
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
or other potentially infectious fluids. An example is the use of a
CPR mask
A pocket mask, or pocket face mask or CPR mask, is a device used to safely deliver rescue breaths during a cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest. The specific term "Pocket Mask" is the trademarked name for the product manufactured by Laerdal M ...
while performing
rescue breathing
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a form of artificial ventilation, is the act of assisting or stimulating respiration in which a rescuer presses their mouth against that of the victim and blows air into the person's lungs. Artificial respiration ta ...
or
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...
. Another example is the use of
personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...
to guard the face against exposure to potentially infectious materials.
Police and military
File:AssaultTraining2016-18.jpg, Russian paratrooper with a 6B47 helmet and ballistic face shield, alt=
File:US Navy 060127-N-9641C-002 Chief Damage Controlman, John Brooks, removes the face shield from a Sailor^rsquo,s MCU-2-P gas mask.jpg, alt=text, Removing a face shield from a Sailor’s MCU-2/P gas mask after washing it with decontamination solution during a General Quarters Drill aboard an aircraft carrier
In
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
or
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
environments, a face shield may be designed for ballistic or non-ballistic protection. The non-ballistic shield will provide no protection from projectiles shot from firearms, but is usually designed to withstand low velocity impacts, like caused by punches or thrown objects.
A ballistic face shield is designed to stop or deflect blast and fragments from operators wearing
bomb suit
A bomb suit, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suit or a blast suit is a heavy suit of body armor designed to withstand the pressure generated by a bomb and any fragments the bomb may produce. It is usually worn by trained personnel attempting bo ...
s To protect the wearers eyes and face from ballistic threats in combat is envisioned in the
PEO Soldier Program Executive Office Soldier is a US Army organization that is responsible for rapid prototyping, procurement, and fielding of equipment for its soldiers.
Development areas
Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment (PM SPIE) d ...
program for the United States Department of Defense.
[Ashok Bhatnagar: ''Lightweight Ballistic Composites: Military and Law-Enforcement Applications'', Woodhead Publishing, 2018, , pp. 396, 397]
Usage in construction
On many
construction sites many
workers
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...
use face shields to protect them from debris or sparks. Many tools for cutting and working with metal recommend the use of a face shield. Examples include
welding equipment or
metal chop saws.
See also
*
Pocket mask
*
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
*
Visor
A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects.
Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...
*
Windshield
The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
*
Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks or coverings, including N95 respirator, N95, FFP standards#FFP2 mask, FFP2, surgical mask, surgical, and cloth masks, have been employed as public and personal health control measures against the spread ...
References
External links
*
Face Shield in India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Face Shield
Bandy equipment
Body armor
Emergency medical equipment
Headgear
Ice hockey equipment
Protective gear
Safety clothing