Product profile

Safety dispensing Where do you keep yours?

By Paul Willis

Is your business missing an opportunity?

In practices across the optical marketplace, we are often guilty of putting our safety spectacles range under the counter or storing it away safely in the stock room. This could work for you if you have the confidence that your team will be discussing lifestyle activities with every patient to understand their needs and identify if they could benefit from safety eyewear.

If your team are not having lifestyle conversations every time, then your patients could be missing out on an individual recommendation and, potentially, your business is missing an opportunity.

Is a well-hidden box being brought out on request the best experience of safety eyewear that you can offer to your customer? Are your team confident with the features of the frames, the benefits to the patient and the ordering process? A safety dispense should be as seamless as any other dispense to give a positive customer experience.

A well-placed, modern and attractive safety offering will capture the interest of a keen gardener, small business owner or corporate client looking for a local optician to fulfil their safety contract. Is your optometrist recognising risks and discussing safety with monocular patients, offering protection for valuable

Your safety offering could attract a new category of patient

Univet is a modern and attractive safety range

eyes in environments or activities that could potentially damage them? Are you approaching local businesses with a modern and attractive range? TEST-TO-DISPENSE SOLUTION Having personally provided safety eyewear to varying levels of industry, I know this area of personal protective equipment (PPE) is the most problematic for a business to source for its employees. Lots of small companies do not even know where to start looking. Many companies will warmly welcome a knowledgeable and local service to provide its employees with a complete test-to-dispense solution.

Building relationships with businesses on safety eyewear leads to new faces

There are 22 Univet styles to choose from

coming into your practice and, potentially, their families and friends. There is an often untapped opportunity to attract new patients and gain additional sales from existing patients. Consider the following: ■ Have lifestyle conversations with your patients to understand their needs ■ Train and upskill the team to be confident with safety dispenses ■ Have a stylish in-practice display for your modern safety range ■ Approach and attract local businesses with your new offer

MEETING PATIENTS’ SAFETY NEEDS Univet prescription safety eyewear from the Lenstec Optical Group offers your practice great looking products that provide the highest possible protection levels in the widest range of environments, whilst remaining comfortable for the wearer.

Whether you are dealing with domestic hobbyists, small local businesses on an ad-hoc basis or have existing corporate eyecare contracts, it is important to ensure your safety eyewear range is meeting the needs of your patients and delivering the right levels of protection for the hazards they face.

Health & Safety Executive guidance states hazards as: “Chemical or metal splash, dust, projectiles, gas and vapour or radiation”. The recognised requirements of EN166 F or S recognise an impact rating or ‘robustness’ but do not guide us on the application or the environment the product is going to be used in.

Of the hazards mentioned above, most of them are concerned with ingress or, more simply put, unwanted matter getting in around the eyewear. This is where it is essential to review your safety range to ensure it provides as many styles of fit and areas of application within the workplace.

A well-considered safety range will give you the ultimate offering to potential corporate clients who will need to be confident that your frames and lenses match their PPE requirements (robustness and application) as well as offer the comfort and style to ensure all day wearer compliance.

For domestic or small business customers without the guidance of an HR or Health & Safety department, a diverse range allows a more consultative selection and frame fit experience that goes beyond simply stating EN166 standards.

Univet currently offer 22 frame styles as well as prescription goggle options that are categorised into three areas: technical, contemporary and the traditional metal frames.

TECHNICAL The technical range is designed to provide full EN166 F rated protection the harshest working environments with no compromise in wearer comfort. A common feature of the frames is a wrap styling with built-in shielding to ensure as close a fit around the eye area as possible.

This built-in shielding also means no risk of the shielding coming loose – either through accident or wearer abuse. Other technologies include special side tips to avoid slippage when leaning forward, mitigating any risk of creating space around the frame, as well as adjustable side length and pantoscopic tilt to minimise gaps at the top and bottom of the spectacle.

The 5X9 model has the benefit of optional fittings such as a full face seal to avoid splash or fine dust getting to the eye, and there is a complete range of clip-on, flip-up protective filters giving a range of welding shades from 1.7 to 7, as well as UV and IR protection including a didymium filter.

On top of the EN166 rating, this range – when fitted with polycarbonate lenses – offers a certified K and T rating. This is engraved on the lens to indicate the scratch resistance meets safety certificate standards (K) and that the product is designed to maintain its integrity working at extreme temperatures (T) between -5˚C and +550C.

CONTEMPORARY The Contemporary range is designed to offer full EN166 F protection with the added bonus of fashionable styling to appeal to anyone who is customer facing and seeking a more discreet safety spectacle. Available in three sizes, each offering a choice of subtle hints of colour in the side shield, this stylish looking range of safety spectacles offers complete safety whilst also looking great.

TRADITIONAL The metal range provides a more traditional option but, again, Univet has tapped into its years of design experience to re-invent the side shielding so it fits more closely to the face and increases the protection levels whilst keeping the looks of these classic models.

Lens tints are available on the polycarbonate lenses and these are fully certified to ensure every dispense is compliant with PPE regulations. There is a demonstration set available for practices comprising of eight core models selected to cover a broad range of sizes, styles and workplace applications. This comes in a professionally-branded Univet box to enhance your safety dispense.

To view the Univet range, review your current safety offering or discuss any support or training we can provide to help develop safety eyewear dispensing within your practice, please book an appointment with your regional sales manager by emailing lenstecsalesgroup@lenstec.co.uk or calling 07866 123949.

The metal range provide a traditional look

Paul Willis is commercial sales director for the Lenstec Optical Group. ■