Mandatory Wearing Of Safety Glasses / PPE In General Hi Andrew:
I work in an engineering business owned, basically, by the staff. The managers are also directors & qualified engineers who have literally "come up through the ranks" and it is they who implemented the PPE requirements, therefore clear articulation to "the managers" is not an issue, they are well aware of the risk.
As mentioned previously, a hazard/risk has been identified and controls put in place to minimise said risk, and for various reasons anyone who transits / works in the area must wear safety glasses - in some cases for the same reason your boots are mandatory i.e. practicality. However, in most cases the staff that do wear "normal" glasses have to get right in with the workers to observe what they're doing, in which case when they they do this they do not wear over glasses and are thus putting themselves at just as much risk - if not more - as the person doing the work.
Also, I would definitely like to see what Worksafe would have to say during an investigation where it comes to light that the accident happened to a person who was wearing "normal" glasses" working right next to the worker who was wearing safety glasses.
Re your comment 'I'm not a big fan of "Mandatory" ' - I'm interested to hear why? I mean, seat belts are mandatory, life jackets are mandatory, crash helmets are mandatory...