I spent a career around arc welding and am very aware of the damage done to eyes by intense light, especially in the UV spectrum. While never having a bad "welder's flash" myself, I've seen a lot of coworkers suffer a lot of pain and damage.
Knowing that, I should have been a lot smarter when I began growing. Not sure how many of you use eye protection when working under your LEDs, but after many headaches and eyestrains over the first few years I added a few things to the grow room that have eliminated eye issues.
I wear prescription glasses and some of the worst issues I had were a result of light from the overhead fixtures reflecting from the inside of my lenses . At first I bought a set of medium-priced 'grow glasses" from Bezos that fit over my prescriptions. They worked okay, but there were still reflection issues if they slid down. The solution to that was wearing an old bucket hat to block the reflections.
Eventually the grow glasses got beaten up so I looked for a replacement. I went to Acklands, an industrial supply place, and picked up a few pairs of safety glasses made for over eyeglass wear. They are much better fitting, made of much stronger material, and cost $3.99/pair. (there is a large range of prices, sizes, configurations, and lens colour)
TLDR: I strongly recommend a pair of UV blocking safety glasses that 'seal' around your eyes, and a hat, to keep your eyes safe under LED lighting.
Bonus: they work great for fishing as well, providing protection from UV and stray hooks while also giving better visibility into the water.
(I assume a lot of this applies to HPS/CMH and other lights, but I've only grown under LED)
Knowing that, I should have been a lot smarter when I began growing. Not sure how many of you use eye protection when working under your LEDs, but after many headaches and eyestrains over the first few years I added a few things to the grow room that have eliminated eye issues.
I wear prescription glasses and some of the worst issues I had were a result of light from the overhead fixtures reflecting from the inside of my lenses . At first I bought a set of medium-priced 'grow glasses" from Bezos that fit over my prescriptions. They worked okay, but there were still reflection issues if they slid down. The solution to that was wearing an old bucket hat to block the reflections.
Eventually the grow glasses got beaten up so I looked for a replacement. I went to Acklands, an industrial supply place, and picked up a few pairs of safety glasses made for over eyeglass wear. They are much better fitting, made of much stronger material, and cost $3.99/pair. (there is a large range of prices, sizes, configurations, and lens colour)
TLDR: I strongly recommend a pair of UV blocking safety glasses that 'seal' around your eyes, and a hat, to keep your eyes safe under LED lighting.
Bonus: they work great for fishing as well, providing protection from UV and stray hooks while also giving better visibility into the water.
(I assume a lot of this applies to HPS/CMH and other lights, but I've only grown under LED)
Fire retardant covies, gloves, steel toes, ear plugs, safety glasses, fall arrest harness and some form of respiratory gear were the basics. From there it could be any variety of other items from ice vests to full SCBA. Didn't matter, I wanted to go home in one piece so I wore that shit. 
