Preview build People, jobs, listings and posts are samples. Guides, events and the directory are real.
ArboNation Join free

Visors, safety glasses and ear defenders for tree work: the standards by country

The standards that regulators name for eye, face and hearing protection in each country, what their labels and ratings mean as official pages describe them, and the noise values the rules set.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 6, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what regulators and standards bodies say about eye, face and hearing protection. It is not legal advice or medical advice, and the regulator or the employer decides what applies to a given job. The guide on chainsaw protection says what each country's sources list to wear, and the guide on health hazards covers noise and the other physical risks of tree work. The guide on helmet standards covers the head.

Eye and face protection

United States

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.133 says the employer must ensure each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation. Eye protection must provide side protection when there is a hazard from flying objects, and detachable side protectors such as clip-on or slide-on side shields are acceptable. Eye and face equipment must be distinctly marked to facilitate identification of the manufacturer. The rule is on the OSHA rule page.

The rule names three consensus standards: ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010, ANSI Z87.1-2003 and ANSI Z87.1-1989 (R-1998). It also says devices the employer demonstrates are at least as effective as ones built to those standards are deemed to comply.

The International Safety Equipment Association announced ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2025 on January 8, 2026. Its announcement calls it the national standard defining performance, testing and marking requirements for eye and face protective devices, and lists clearer, more standardized product markings and updated language for impact testing, lens performance and minimum coverage. It says the standard continues a performance-based approach and remains the foundation for the eye and face protection referenced in United States workplace safety regulations.

Canada

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety says in its eye and face protection fact sheet that many jurisdictions in Canada require eye and face protection to meet CSA Standard Z94.3, Eye and Face Protectors. It describes the marking: the manufacturer or supplier certification mark must be present on all approved safety lenses, frames, removable side shields and other parts, and products tested and approved by CSA bear the CSA certification mark. CSA-certified lenses must meet the standard's impact resistance criteria, and only approved materials are permitted.

The fact sheet reproduces a hazard table from the CSA guideline Z94.3.1-16, which groups protectors by class number.

  • Class 1. Spectacles.
  • Class 2. Goggles. The fact sheet says direct ventilated goggles protect against impact hazards, and non-ventilated and indirect ventilated goggles protect against impact, chemical or liquid splashes and fine dusts.
  • Class 5. Hoods.
  • Class 6. Face shields.
  • British Columbia. OHS Regulation section 8.14 says a worker must wear eye protection in an area where eye hazards exist or are created, and that it must meet CAN/CSA-Z94.3-07 or Z94.3-15, or ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2015. Section 8.17 says a worker must wear face protection covering the eye protection where face hazards exist.
  • Alberta. The OHS Code Part 18 says that where a worker's eyes may be injured or irritated, the employer must ensure the worker wears eye protection approved to CSA Z94.3-15 and appropriate to the work and hazard. Prescription frames may meet ANSI Z87.1-2003 provided the lenses meet Z94.3-15.

United Kingdom

HSE's leaflet Chainsaws at work (INDG317) lists mesh visors to EN 1731 or safety glasses to EN 166. The leaflet also says that if more than one item of PPE is worn at the same time, the items have to be usable together, and gives the example that wearing safety glasses may disturb the seal of a respirator.

BSI, the UK standards body, lists BS EN 1731:2006, mesh eye and face protectors, as withdrawn on June 6, 2022. Its page for BS EN ISO 16321-3:2022 lists it as current, covering additional performance and marking requirements for mesh protectors against mechanical hazards such as impacts from flying particles and fragments, with the other applicable requirements given in ISO 16321-1.

Australia

The SafeWork NSW Tree works Code of Practice (March 2026) is a New South Wales document. Its table of PPE items lists safety eye wear, which protects against flying debris such as wood dust, and names AS/NZS 1337.1:2010, Personal eye protection, Part 1: Eye and face protectors for occupational applications.

New Zealand

WorkSafe New Zealand's Safety and Health in Arboriculture code says suitable visors or safety glasses shall be worn for eye protection at all times, that eye protection should not compromise the fit and seal of earmuffs, and that it shall be inspected before use and removed from service or replaced if signs of excessive wear or damage are found.

Hearing protection

United States

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95 sets permissible noise exposures in its Table G-16: 90 dBA for 8 hours a day, 95 for 4 hours and 100 for 2 hours, measured on the A scale at slow response. Above those levels the rule calls for feasible administrative or engineering controls, and for personal protective equipment if those fail. A hearing conservation program applies whenever exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels. Employers make hearing protectors available at no cost to employees exposed at that level, and the rule requires them to be worn by employees who are required to wear PPE under the table, or who are exposed at 85 or more and have no baseline audiogram yet or have a standard threshold shift. The rule also says exposure to impulsive or impact noise should not exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure level. It is on the OSHA rule page.

On selection, the rule says employees are given the opportunity to select their protectors from a variety of suitable ones the employer provides, that the employer ensures proper initial fitting and supervises correct use, and that the employer evaluates attenuation for the specific noise environments in which the protector will be used. Protectors must attenuate exposure at least to an 8-hour time-weighted average of 90 decibels, and to 85 decibels or below for employees who have had a standard threshold shift.

The noise reduction rating

The label on United States hearing protectors comes from rules of the Environmental Protection Agency in 40 CFR part 211. The label requirements say the primary label states "Noise Reduction Rating", gives the value in decibels, and carries the statement "The range of Noise Reduction Ratings for existing hearing protectors is approximately 0 to 30 (higher numbers denote greater effectiveness)", with the phrase "(When used as directed)".

Canada

Noise limits are provincial, and the four below all use 85 dBA over a working day.

  • British Columbia. Part 7 sets exposure limits of 85 dBA Lex daily and 140 dBC peak. Section 7.7 says hearing protection given to affected workers must meet CSA Standard Z94.2-02, as amended from time to time, and be maintained so it continues to meet it.
  • Alberta. The OHS Code Part 16 says exposure must not exceed the Schedule 3 limits and 85 dBA Lex, and that a noise exposure assessment is required where workers may be exposed above 82 dBA Lex. Hearing protection must meet CSA Z94.2-14 (R2019) and be fit tested in accordance with it.
  • Ontario. The Noise regulation (O. Reg. 381/15) says no worker is exposed to a sound level greater than an equivalent sound exposure level of 85 dBA, Lex,8, and that a hearing protection device is selected having regard to the sound levels, the attenuation the device provides and the manufacturer's information about its use and limitations. An employer who provides a device also provides training on its care, limits, fitting, inspection and maintenance.
  • Quebec. The Regulation respecting occupational health and safety, section 131, sets 85 dBA for the daily noise exposure level and 140 dBC for peak sound pressure level. Section 141 says protectors must meet named clauses of CSA Z94.2-2014. It also allows protectors meeting the NF EN 352 series, whose parts it lists as ear-muffs (Part 1), earplugs (Part 2), ear-muffs attached to an industrial safety helmet (Part 3), level-dependent ear-muffs (Part 4), active noise-reduction ear-muffs (Part 5), ear-muffs with electrical audio input (Part 6) and level-dependent earplugs (Part 7).

Another CCOHS page, its hearing protectors fact sheet reproduces Table 2 of CSA Z94.2-14 (R2024), which counts earplugs at 50% of the labelled noise reduction rating, earmuffs at 70%, and dual protection at 65% of the higher rating after adding 5 dB to it.

United Kingdom

On the HSE site, the noise regulations page says the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set 85 dB(A), a daily or weekly average, as the level at which employers must provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones, and 80 dB(A) as the level at which employers must assess the risk and provide information and training. There is also an exposure limit value of 87 dB(A), taking account of any reduction provided by hearing protection, above which workers must not be exposed.

HSE's chainsaw leaflet lists hearing protection to EN 352-1, and the aerial tree work page lists protection complying with BS EN 352.

On the HSE site, the hearing protection page explains the single number rating (SNR) that comes with a device. It says protectors that reduce the level at the ear to below 70 dB should be avoided, because over-protection may cause difficulties with communication and hearing warning signals. It gives a guide table pairing noise levels with SNR values, for example 20 or less at 85 to 90 dB(A) and 30 or more at 100 to 105 dB(A).

Australia

The SafeWork NSW code cited above, which refers to section 57 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation, says persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) must ensure workers are not exposed to noise levels of more than 85 dB(A) over eight hours, or peak noises of more than 140 dB(C). It says that where high noise cannot be avoided or eliminated, appropriate hearing protection equipment must be provided to everyone who may be exposed. Its PPE table names the AS/NZS 1269 series, Occupational noise management, and AS/NZS 1270:2002, Acoustics - Hearing protectors. The code adds that audiometric testing is provided within three months of a worker starting, and at least every two years after, for workers required to frequently use personal hearing protectors for noise that exceeds the exposure standard.

New Zealand

WorkSafe New Zealand's page on noise and the law says a business must, so far as is reasonably practicable, make sure workers are not exposed to noise equivalent to 85 decibels averaged over 8 hours, or a peak noise level over 140 decibels, and that this always applies whether or not workers wear hearing protection. The arboriculture code says all workers wear hearing protection in any area subject to harmful noise, and that all chainsaw operators wear at least grade 4 hearing protection. Its table sets the classes by eight-hour noise level.

ClassLAeq,8h dB(A)Source
Class 1Less than 90Arboriculture code
Class 290 to less than 95Arboriculture code
Class 395 to less than 100Arboriculture code
Class 4100 to less than 105Arboriculture code
Class 5105 to less than 110Arboriculture code

Side by side

CountryNoise values in the rulesHearing standard named
United States85 dBA program, 90 dBA table, 140 dB peakEPA label (NRR)
Canada, BC85 dBA Lex, 140 dBC peakCSA Z94.2
Canada, Alberta85 dBA LexCSA Z94.2-14
Canada, Ontario85 dBA Lex,8Maker information and attenuation
Canada, Quebec85 dBA, 140 dBC peakCSA Z94.2 or NF EN 352
United Kingdom80, 85 and 87 dB(A)EN 352
Australia, NSW85 dB(A), 140 dB(C) peakAS/NZS 1270
New Zealand85 dB, 140 dB peakNZS/AS 1270:1988 listed in the arboriculture code, grade 4 for chainsaws

The eye and face standards named in the same sources are ANSI Z87.1 in the United States, CSA Z94.3 in Canada, EN 1731 and EN 166 in HSE pages for the United Kingdom, and AS/NZS 1337 in Australia and New Zealand.

Sources