ANSI Z87 UK site: do not file that stamp as EN 166

You open an amazon.co.uk page and the title leads with ANSI Z87.1, sometimes with CSA or EN 166 beside it. That search is an ANSI Z87 UK site, and the mistake is filing the American or Canadian line as the mark a British assessment can record. A US stamp is a US test, not a UK designated standard.

Peter F.'s shelf notes are twelve amazon.co.uk listings in our safety glasses comparison, captured on 19 October 2026, plus HSE's supply page, the GOV.UK PPE table, notices 0112/25 and 0142/26, and uvex's UK note on EN ISO 16321. No impact test was run, and a reviewer's stamp reading is not a field on the page. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

In short

ANSI Z87.1 is a US stamp and CSA is a Canadian one. On a Great Britain site, most new PPE needs UKCA or CE, a declaration of conformity, instructions in English, and the letters on the lens and the frame. From 11 November 2025, new certification uses EN ISO 16321-1. An in-date EN 166 certificate can still be sold until it expires.

What Z87.1 and CSA name

ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 is the American standard for occupational and educational eye and face protection. Wiley X's UK FAQ calls EN 166 the corresponding European standard: two regimes side by side, not the same test or legal list. Z87 is the basic American impact mark, Z87+ the higher one, and Z87-2 is still that standard, not the SKU. None of those tokens is optical class 1, F, B, or A. C, D, and E are a different code. Translating Z87+ into F makes the file wrong.

CSA is the Canadian mark, not a second spelling of Z87. The Ansell KleenGuard Nemesis, B0FXY1HFXX, is £8.14, with matching ASINs, 4.3 from 315 reviews, CSA model 20378, and 50% transmission. You cannot paste CSA into a box that asks for EN 166. The black and red NoCry, B07GB8Y11G, also £13.99, carries ANSI d3, the US dust and splash notation. EN 166 field 3 is liquid droplets on goggles, so d3 does not become a 3. Red and black-and-green share one review file, 4.4 from 61,350.

What an ANSI Z87 UK site can record

HSE's supply page says an employer who provides PPE must see an appropriate conformity mark. Most new PPE on the Great Britain market must be UKCA or CE marked, with a declaration of conformity and instructions in English. Use it only as the manufacturer instructs. The GOV.UK sector table, after 1 October 2024, gives PPE that same choice. An older L25 print still reads as if UKCA were the only mark from 1 January 2025. Follow the live pages.

Northern Ireland is the other column. PPE placed on that market is CE, or UKNI together with CE. A lone UKCA mark is not that route, and a Z87 stamp is in neither column. Match the supply mark to the market the product was placed on, then match the protector to the hazard.

Designated standards give a presumption of conformity. Notice 0112/25 removed EN 166:2001 on 11 November 2025, with EN 169, EN 170, EN 172, and EN 379. Notice 0142/26, dated 15 October 2026, lists EN ISO 16321-1:2022 with amendment A1:2025. ANSI Z87.1 is not on those lists. Another route exists only if the declaration says so. A Z87.1 bullet is not that declaration.

uvex's UK guide is the calendar. From 11 November 2025, new certification uses the newer standard. An existing EN 166 certificate can run until it expires, up to about five years, with no date by which that stock must leave the shelf. The date does not print EN 166 onto a blank table, and it does not promote Z87.

Copy the letters on the lens and on the frame. If they disagree, the lower mark is the one you can claim, set out on the EN 166 markings page. If the declaration names only ANSI Z87.1 or only CSA, stop. Bestworkwear's buyers' guide calls Z87 the equivalent of EN 166. That sentence is the error.

What the listings show

Twelve listings run from £4.13 to £42.99, and the tables almost never print EN 166 or EN ISO 16321. The top pick is the NoCry EyeArmor+, black and green, B01AWK1XAS, £13.99, a 28 g polycarbonate pair with adjustable arms. The ASINs match and the table has no EN line. One reviewer quotes 1 FT, CE, and Z87+. That is one person's reading, not a field on the page. Reviews say the curve will not go over ordinary glasses. A fit-over sits on the safety glasses for people who wear glasses comparison.

The red NoCry is the same £13.99 and the same 4.4 from 61,350, plus the ANSI d3 line. Ansell at £8.14 is a fair home pair if you accept a darker lens and a Canadian stamp, and a poor issue pair when the method statement says EN 166 or EN ISO 16321.

The orange-grip multi, B0CN1RYQ52, is £29.99, 4.3 from 36 reviews, and the details ASIN disagrees with the URL. A reviewer says ANSI Z87.1, and another mention is a children's party. Write that a reviewer reported Z87.1, or write nothing. The Riley Flux, B09C27XXKT, was £10.99 on 20 October 2026, 4.8 from 38 reviews and 24 g, outside those twelve. The title says EN 166:2001, ANSI/ISEA Z87.1, CE, and UKCA. A title is still a title. Turn the pair over before anyone signs the issue sheet.

When both stamps are printed

Some eyewear is tested in more than one country. Wiley X says its glasses are tested to an ISO or EN 166 standard and also to ANSI Z87.1. The US mark tells a US reader something. It does not spare you the UK letters, and it does not raise the grade.

Read the supply mark first, UKCA or CE on the Great Britain market, then the declaration if you keep one, then the lens, then the frame. A complete line has the filter, maker, optical class, and strength on the lens, optional letters such as K or N, and a strength mark on the frame. Z87 beside that line is an extra. Z87 instead of it is the problem.

A stacked title is the same trap. ANSI Z87.1 and EN 166 in the headline has not shown field number 3, F, or B, and an anti-fog bullet has not shown N. If both parts carry a clean UK line and a Z87 mark, record both and use the UK line in the assessment. If the plastic is bare, send it back or keep it for a home job without paperwork. A declaration that cites only Z87.1 is already the answer.

Where the stamp still fails

A correct UK mark only describes the tests that were done. Spectacles have temples, side cover, and a gap, and they suit chips. Goggles meet the face for liquid or fine dust. A faceshield covers more and usually still needs eyewear underneath. HSE separates the three. The choice is on safety glasses or goggles. A Z87+ wrap with a gap is still a wrap with a gap.

Lasers sit outside Z87 and outside EN ISO 16321, as BSI and uvex describe it, with sport, surgery, solar-only lenses, and arc-flash faceshields. A clear pair whose title mentions Z87 does not select a wavelength. That job is on the laser safety glasses comparison. Molten metal and arc are faceshield marks, not a side effect of an American plus.

At work, suitable eye protection is the employer's duty when the assessment still needs it, including for limb (b) workers. Who pays is on who pays for eye protection. The duty does not turn a title into a certificate. At home there is no file. You can wear a Z87 pair for chips and still refuse to call it EN 166.

Leave the listing when nobody can match splash, fine dust, molten metal, or arc, when the job is a laser, or when the wearer needs prescription safety lenses. A blank batch, or a stamped frame with a bare lens, is the same stop. Replace a deeply scratched lens or a bent frame. An eye injury at work is a reporting matter.