Are you one of the special people that have to wear safety glasses for work?  Are most of your daily tasks on the computer or an arms length away?  The reason I ask as you might be interested to know that you can get occupational progressive lenses for your prescription safety glasses, just like your standard spectacles.

For the occupational progressive lenses you have the computer distance approximately 1.5m to 70cm away, clear at the top and this gradually gets to the full reading prescription at the bottom of the lens (clear for approximately 40cm).  Much like a normal full progressive lens, though with wider width corridors.  (This means that you don’t have to move your head around so much reading, and can see more of your computer screen in focus without having to move your head.

It should be noted that these lenses are not designed for walking around, as the distance isn’t clear through them.  But they do have a much wider corridor of clear vision than the standard progressive lens, due to only have two different prescriptions in them.  This is unlike the normal progressive or graduated lenses that have the three.  The more widely known progressive or graduated lenses have the distance in front of your eyes in rest/normal position and the lens prescription gradually changes to your computer or intermediate prescription and then to the full reading prescription.

Occupation progressive lenses only have the 2 different prescriptions; they are like bifocals in this respect.  Without the segment line that delineates the reading area in a bifocal lens.  Bifocals traditionally have the distance prescription in the top of the lens and reading prescription in the segment.  That is not to say that you can’t have your intermediate or computer prescription at the top of the lens and the reading in the segment.  I have certainly organized this for my patients when it would be beneficial for them.

Please talk to your Optometrist and make an informed decision about what is the best option for you.  It may be that you need more than one pair of glasses.