The IC Safety eyewear system will feature on ABC’s program The New Inventors this month (May) and is already being sold to companies including BP Australia Pty.Ltd, Downer EDI Mining, Aurizon Operations and Queensland Rail

Typically, companies purchase a box of IC Safety frames and arrange for prescription lenses to be made to meet the vision needs of their individual employees.

On receipt of their scripted Astralon™ foils, employees choose the colour frame they want and clip the lenses into place. Should the frames or outer lenses become damaged while on the job, the wearer simply unclips the Astralon foil and fits it into a new pair of IC Safety frames.

According to Mr. Mehringer this process takes just 20 seconds - far less time than it would take to even put a call in to order a new pair of prescription glasses. Mr. Mehringer says the new safety eyewear system will save money for wearers and organisations that provide their employees with safety eyewear. "There is nothing like this in the world. One corrective foil can fit every pair in the IC Safety Collection glasses range... there are different coloured frames and tint strengths to suit the environment you are in - whether you're working in an industrial environment, out in the sun, participating in sport or fishing."

The IC Safety System is patented and trademarked.

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Optical system combines replaceable safety glasses with users' presciption lenses

Those of us who need to wear glasses face a bit of a quandary when it comes to protective eyewear. We can put big safety glasses on over top of our prescription glasses, although these can be bulky, uncomfortable, and a little funny-looking.

Those drawbacks can be avoided by getting safety glasses with prescription lenses, but given the conditions under which such glasses are typically worn, it's entirely possible that their custom lenses will get scratched.

This leaves users on the hook for an expensive new pair, which they will have to wait several days for. Australian inventor Andreas Mehringer, however, has created what could be a better alternative, in the form of his IC Safety System.

Mehringer's system consists of two parts.

On the outside is a pair of fairly conventional wrap-around non-prescription polycarbonate safety glasses. These are designed to protect the eyes from flying bits and pieces, and varying amounts of UV light (depending on the model). Their lenses have an anti-scratch, anti-fog coating, and are said to be distortion-free.

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PRODUCT NEWS – IC Safety vision system

In a world first, the Brisbane-based New Eye Company has released an Rx-able safety eyewear system that enables users to simply release the scripted lenses from their frames and re-insert them into new protective frames should the need arise.

The IC Safety eyewear system featured on ABC Television program New Inventors this year and is already being sold to companies that include BP Australia, Boral, Anglo Coal and Unity Water.

The system comprises two components - a wraparound frame with fixed lenses and an ‘Astralon optical foil’, which is a flexible plastic inner frame that can be fitted with a person’s prescription lenses. The Astralon foil slips into place beneath the outer frames, which take the brunt of any wear and tear or impact.

New Eye Company manufactures single vision, bifocal and multifocal lenses to any script for the foils from its Brisbane head office. The foils are warranted for their lifetime.

Innovative solution to improve workplace eye safety

Work-related eye injuries result in around 500 hospital admissions a year in Australia, according to a Safe Work Australia 2008 report. In Victoria alone there were 7299 emergency department presentations for work-related eye injuries from July 2002 to June 2004. From 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2004 (inclusive), there were 1049 cases of work-related eye injury resulting in hospital admission, according to the report.

While there were 7299 emergency department presentations in Victoria for work-related eye injuries, in Queensland, there were 2144 cases, states the report. There were 822 accepted serious claims for eye injuries in the workers compensation data provided by Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania for the 2-year period, it adds. These claims involved the injured worker requiring one or more weeks off work. Eye injuries can be avoided by wearing the right safety glasses. The use of the correct safety glasses will ensure the safety of workers and help employers avoid injury and claims costs.

Andreas Mehringer (Managing Director/Optician), a Queensland, Australia-based innovator and Managing Director of New Eye Company, has developed a unique idea to improve eye safety. His patented IC Safety System comprises two components - a pair of IC Safety Frames and an inner Astralon optical foil that includes the wearer’s prescription lenses, offering distortion-free optical correction in all workplace environments. The polycarbonate safety frames are UV 400 rated, antifog and antiscratch, and meet the requirements of Australian Standard 1337.1. The Astralon foil can be easily clipped into generic safety glasses and fits all the IC Safety approved frames.