family owned safety

Family Owned

Since 1944, Gateway Safety is proud to be your reliable, long-term partner for industrial safety equipment. 

Our History

At Gateway we’re all about family, safety, and protection.

Family-owned since 1944, Gateway Safety is one of the oldest
and most successful manufacturers of personal safety equipment
in the United States. Originally founded as a manufacturer of welding
eye protection, our business has evolved into ‘above-the-shoulders’
personal protection equipment. This includes eye protection,
face protection, head protection, hearing protection,
and disposable respiratory protection.

The entire team at Gateway Safety works hard to:

  • Design & manufacture high-quality, innovative safety solutions.
  • Deliver unmatched service & support.
  • Keep our operating costs low to provide value-priced products.

These goals inspire our daily excellence in providing exceptional safety products backed by superior service.

Where safety meets style.

Gateway Safety understands that worker compliance is the key to any successful safety program.

Studies show that style and comfort are the keys to worker compliance. Armed with this knowledge, Gateway Safety has invested considerable resources into our product development effort and, as a result, we’ve become known as the place ‘Where Safety Meets Style.’ Gateway Safety designs and manufactures many extremely popular safety products. This includes StarLite® safety glasses, which has been embraced by the entire safety industry. The StarLite design is the best-selling safety eyewear product in the United States.

The Gateway Mission

Of course, worker safety is still at the heart of Gateway Safety’s mission. While many of our competitors take shortcuts to reduce costs and improve their profit margins, Gateway Safety products are engineered to perform better than is required by the ANSI standards. As evidence of this commitment to worker safety, Gateway Safety partners with several third-party testing laboratories who independently certify that our products meet the appropriate standards. It’s not required by ANSI or OSHA. However, Gateway Safety does this to prove to our customers that our products measure up against virtually any other product in the industry. Read more about independent testing below.

Independent Testing

Our Commitment to Product Quality

Gateway Safety takes its commitment to quality very seriously. Although it’s not required by OSHA, we partner with third party testing facilities to get independent testing done on nearly all of our products. This independent quality assurance provides distributors, employers, and end users with the peace of mind that Gateway Safety products will deliver the promised level of protection. Few, if any, of our competitors can provide similar assurance.

For specific product testing information, please use the menu to the right

Real People Protected.

Real Life Stories.

REAL LIFE STORIES


There’s nothing quite as inspiring as hearing the stories that come in to us from users of Gateway Safety products. The real-life tales of situations in which our products did their job — prevented an eye injury or potentially saved a life – are what make us proud to be part of the Gateway Safety team.

Conqueror Conquers Projectile, Saves an Eye

Dirk, a long-time Gateway Safety end user, recently shared his experience on a jobsite. “I just need to thank you for my eyesight!  There was a mechanical failure on the jobsite today and an extremely heavy, and potentially deadly (or at minimum life-altering) sharp piece of metal struck my Gateway Safety glasses at a high rate of speed.” Fortunately, Dirk takes quality seriously, and was wearing his Gateway Safety Conqueror® safety glasses, known for their comfort and popular style. At the same time, Conqueror provides serious protection and has been independently tested and certified to pass the ANSI Z98.1+ high impact standard. Conqueror also meets the ballistic impact resistance requirements for eyewear in US Military Performance Specification MIL PRF-32432. The Conqueror lens held true without breaking or shattering, while safely deflecting the projectile. Dirk Mulberry, FL

Chainsaw Tragedy Avoided

An avid StarLite® user was working with a chainsaw when suddenly, the chainsaw kicked back and struck him in the face! He suffered severe lacerations above and below his Gateway Safety glasses. Though he needed several stitches along his forehead and nose, his StarLite glasses “saved the day” by protecting his eye.

Shortly after the accident, he visited his local Gateway Safety distributor to express his thanks, share his story and purchase another pair of his favorite glasses.

Varsity® Anti-Fog a True Winner

Clear Temples/Clear Lens (2780)“I have never had a pair of safety glasses like the Varsity gray anti-fog that lived up to the standards of safety. The best thing is the TRU anti-fog. I have had face masks and other safety glasses say anti-fog but they always fogged up and in doing so I would have to take them off. I have never had Gateways glasses fog up on me once and I have owned them for two months”

Matthew S.
Eugene, OR

Eye Survives Steel Blow, Thanks to StarLite®

“Recently, one of my employees had an accident where a large piece of steel struck him in the face. He shattered his cheekbone and fractured his eye socket. The doctors have said if not for his safety glasses, his eye would have been destroyed. The safety glasses took a big hit. They did not shatter but they did bend, absorbing the impact of the blow as they were supposed to. Thanks again.”

Scott R.
Monroe, NC

Flight® Gets Highest Marks For Comfort

“I wanted to take a couple of minutes and tell you how impressed I am with those Flight safety glasses. They are the lightest, most comfortable safety glasses I have ever seen. I love those things and so do the guys here at the shop. The SoundOut ear muffs work great too and I will be purchasing several pairs of them also. But, I cannot say enough about how much we love those safety glasses.”

Jerry J.
Warren, MI

Shotgun Pellets No Match for StarLite®

 

“I want to thank you for your StarLite glasses. I always wear them when I pheasant hunt. Last week I was hit in the face with some shotgun pellets from about 50 yards away. One pellet hit my right lens. Nothing happened to my right lens or eye and the left lens deflected the pellet downward so that it hit my cheek which bled profusely. BUT…it saved my eyes (and me) from subsequent blindness. Thanks for a really great product. I just bought two more glasses and am telling everyone about them!”

Fred B.
Loveland, CO

Many Thanks From Frank

Clear Temples/Clear In-Out Mirror Lens (460M)“I just wanted to say thank you for the StarLite Protective Eyewear. Because of these safety glasses I still have my left eyeball and socket intact.

One day I was dumping load of chips and wood from my dump truck and the load shifted to the tail gate. The handle was a 2″ x 16″ steel bar on the tail gate and it hit me with such force, it knocked me to the ground. I had temporarily loss of vision due to glasses distributing the force. I would have had a loss of an eye and major eye socket damage . I wear them everyday because they are so comfortable and look good too, besides the safety factor. I also wear the clear and clear mirrored when I ride my motorcycle. Thank you so much for such a great product!”

Sincerely Grateful,
Frank

Safety and Fun for Boy with Blindness

Sandy S. Recently found out her four-year-old son, Carter is legally blind in one eye. Carter’s doctor told her he would need to wear safety glasses to protect his “good” eye, and Sandy turned to StarLite SM Gumballs for a solution that would be safe…and fun.

“He really loves that he can pick out his favorite color every day, and all his friends at school think they are “really cool”” Says Sandy. Carter wears his StarLite SM Gumballs, which are 10% smaller than the original, all day, everyday without any complaint, sometimes even forgetting he has them on at bedtime, she says.

“I have had a lot of other moms asking where to find these glasses for their kids when they are working on different projects. I am so thankful that I found glasses he’ll wear that are affordable, comfortable and have the protection we need to keep my boy’s eye safe.”

Sandy S.
Bellingham, WA

Great Product, Great Price

“I would like to commend you on your line of StarLite safety glasses. I have finally found a quality style of safety glasses that stays on and for as often as I end up losing them or misplacing them. I can keep extra pairs on hand because of the price. Thank you for a great product. many of my friends also use “Starlite” safety glasses so keep up this great product line…and thank you.”

Jim S.

Barberton, OH

StarLite® Saves in HVAC Explosion

“StarLite safety glasses saved my butt!”

Robert M. was completing a routine maintenance check of an HVAC , when a hose leading to his gauge burst. Freon, dirt, and debris went flying everywhere, along with a screw directly into his safety glasses.

“At first, I didn’t even realize what had happened…that’s when I noticed something strange in my field of vision.” Although the screw went straight into the lens, no metal went through. “I’m not sure that many glasses would have held.”

Robert M.
Houston, TX

StarLite® Hits a Home Run

468M

Marie had been wearing gray StarLites for years as sunglasses when she suddenly found out just how important their impact protection was too.

“Two weeks ago, we were at a softball practice and I got hit with the ball, right in the middle of the right lens. The smudge from the ball wiped right off the lens, there were no cracks or scratches, and the glasses protected my brow and cheekbone from needing stitches. I had a lovely black eye for a couple of weeks but these glasses definitely saved my face, and I wanted to commend the company on how well-made they are. The ball knocked them off of me but the guys were very impressed that they did not break. If it had been normal sunglasses I’d have been in the ER having shards plucked out of my eye for sure, and stitches. Thanks!”

Marie D.
Columbia, SC

Motor Cyclist Saved by Safety Glasses

“I recently purchased a pair of your safety glasses (Varsity #278M) at Harley Davidson of Fort Myers, Florida. While riding my bike home. I was traveling on State Route 82 doing 70 mph. A bird flying in the opposite direction hit me directly on the right eye of the safety glasses. The impact was so hard the bird exploded and it briefly caused me to black out. I woke, regained control of the bike and safely stopped.

The safety glasses stayed in place and protected me from very serious injury.

They did not crack, split or in any way show damage from this impact except that because of all the blood, guts, and feathers imbedded into the right side of the glasses they are no longer useable. I truly do appreciate being alive to tell my story. I believe I am alive because of the protection I received by wearing these safety glasses. I must confess that my initial reason for purchasing these glasses was because of the reasonable price. Of course, I expected quality as well.

And for the price, they are totally distortion free, gave excellent UV protection, and are very cleanable and easy to maintain. If cared for, I get a very reasonable amount of use/wear from them. I did not purchase them for crash protection (I wear a helmet for that). I was very pleased that these glasses far surpassed my expectations. These not only saved my eyesight but possibly my life.

Thank you,
Joseph G Holland
Lehigh Acres, FL

Memberships & Associations

Gateway Safety is proud to be associated with following organizations: