When you shop for safety glasses, you will see markings like Z87 and Z87+ stamped on the lens or frame. Most people assume they mean the same thing. They do not. Understanding the difference could be the reason your eyes walk away from an incident intact.
What Is ANSI?
ANSI stands for the American National Standards Institute, a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes safety and performance standards across industries in the United States. ANSI does not manufacture products or conduct testing itself. It sets the requirements, and accredited third-party laboratories test products against those requirements.
When a product carries an ANSI certification, it means an independent lab has verified it meets a defined standard — not that the manufacturer simply printed a label.
What Is ANSI Z87.1?
ANSI Z87.1 is the specific ANSI standard for occupational and educational personal eye and face protection. It covers safety glasses, goggles, face shields, and welding helmets used in workplaces and hazardous environments.
The standard sets minimum requirements for optical clarity, frame coverage, impact resistance, and durability. Lenses must meet optical quality thresholds so vision is not distorted during use. Frames must provide adequate coverage to protect the eye area from debris coming from multiple angles. ANSI Z87.1 is recognized by OSHA as the benchmark standard for eye protection in high-risk workplace environments.
What Is the Difference Between Z87 and Z87+?
Both Z87 and Z87+ fall under the ANSI Z87.1 standard, but they represent two different levels of impact protection with meaningfully different testing requirements.
Z87 — Basic Impact
Z87 certified eyewear meets the foundational requirements of ANSI Z87.1 covering optical quality, frame coverage, and structural integrity. It does not need to pass the two additional impact tests required for Z87+. This tier is appropriate for low-risk environments involving liquid splashes, slow-moving debris, or general light-hazard work.
The Z87 marking is stamped on the frame. The lens typically carries only the manufacturer or function code, with no plus sign.
Z87+ — High Impact
Z87+ requires everything Z87 covers, plus two additional and significantly more demanding impact tests that must both be passed.
High-Mass Test: A cone-shaped weight of approximately 500g is dropped from 127cm directly onto the lens. The lens must not crack, shatter, or detach from the frame.
High-Velocity Test: A 0.25-inch (6.35mm) steel ball is fired at the full assembled eyewear at approximately 76.2 to 84.7 meters per second. The lens and frame must not crack, fracture, or allow penetration. The test uses contact paste to simulate the eye surface — no fragments from the lens or frame may adhere to the paste, and no contact paste may transfer onto the steel ball or eyewear. Either result indicates the eye was reached, and the eyewear fails immediately.
Both tests must be passed. Passing one and failing the other means the product does not qualify for Z87+ certification.
The Z87+ marking is permanently stamped on both the lens and the frame. If you only see it on a sticker or packaging, that is not certification.
Side by Side
| Z87 | Z87+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic optical and structural requirements | Yes | Yes |
| High-Mass drop test (500g from 127cm) | No | Yes |
| High-Velocity test (6.35mm ball at 76–85 m/s) | No | Yes |
| Marking | Z87 on frame | Z87+ on lens and frame |
| Best for | Liquid splash, low-speed debris | Cutting, grinding, shooting, high-speed fragment environments |
How to Check If Your Glasses Are Actually Certified
Look for the Z87 or Z87+ marking stamped directly on the lens surface and on the temple or frame. If the marking only appears on a sticker, tag, or packaging, the product has not been independently verified to the standard. Genuine certified eyewear carries the permanent stamp on the product itself.
Why It Matters at the Shooting Range
At an indoor or outdoor shooting range, your eyes face spent brass, unburned powder, ricochets, and fragmented debris traveling at high speed. This is exactly the environment the High-Velocity test was designed to replicate. Basic Z87 eyewear does not cover this scenario. Z87+ does.
The same applies to woodworking, metalworking, grinding, and airsoft. Any activity that generates fast-moving particles or fragments calls for Z87+ rated protection, not basic Z87.
Clear or tinted, polarized or standard — whatever lens fits your environment, the Z87+ marking on both lens and frame is the minimum you should accept when the risk is real.
The Bottom Line
ANSI Z87.1 is the standard. Z87 is the basic tier. Z87+ is the high-impact tier, verified through two additional tests that simulate real-world high-speed impact scenarios. If your safety glasses do not have Z87+ stamped on both the lens and the frame, they have not been tested for the conditions that matter most.
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