Hi there from newby. A couple of days ago I became the happy owner of my first laser engraver Sculpfun S9. First hours I did some test engraving with glasses, then I (probably was too stupid) and next few days used it without any glasses. Today I read how dangerous is laser even if you don’t put it directly in eyes and understood how stupid I was.
Later I found that on official S9 description such information " Circle eye protection cover design: The laser filter cover filters 98% of the ultraviolet light to the eyes. You and the people around you can watch laser engraving from all angles without wearing goggles. At the same time, it can prevent animals from catching the laser spot." SCULPFUN S9 | Laser Module 5.5W| Laser Head – sculpfun
Now I wonder if it is official information does it really mean that it is safe enough to use it without any glasses? In such a case why does Sculpfun themself give googles together with the engraver kit?
Bit confused…
Additionally… I’m not against googles and understand that I have only one pair of eyes… But my engraver works near me on the table meanwhile when I’m doing my other work on PC. So what I’m trying to understand is it safe enough to stay without glases when doing my other work near working engraver.
Hard to answer question because it varies on multiple factors.
Your tolerance to risk, but also your environment.
Do you have family, pets, kids etc?
I would say. If you find yourself already getting annoyed by the goggles, spend the $ buy an universal enclosure. This will fix 2 things (2nd of which you will encounter soon)
a) risk to your eyes (this does not replace the need to use goggles when looking inside enclosure)
b) fumes and smells
edit: Do also get a better goggles if you can there are some nice ones in 40-50$ in Amazon make sure they are 445nm compliant (usually is a range 300-560 … 900-1200nm)
The problem I have is the statement they make is
laser filter cover filters 98% of the ultraviolet light to the eyes
This is a visible light laser, not UV, so I don’t think I follow them.
Being reasonable, they sell millions of these things, many are very similar, if they were blinding people, you’d hear about it.
beyond the effect of 90W CO2 laser
This is also from their site… If you believe this, from a 5.5W laser, I have a bridge between California and Arizona you’d love to own, cheap. 
You should understand there is lots of power there, and there is the ability to remove the protection safety shield from the laser, and that would expose anything external to a possible beam strike… It also can’t tell if the safety shield is there or up/down on the work surface …
Use common sense, I just don’t look at it when it’s running… There are other frequencies created when you vaporize something, that these can’t block. These machines are mesmerizing, I suggest you get it going and only look at it (with or without glasses) when necessary.
I’ve used these for a number of years, fiber, co2 and about three ssl (diode), watched them (glasses on) no safety shield and I can still see…
If it’s bright, it’s probably passing some of the other frequencies that’s being generated… so now I just get it running and only look to check it’s operating or when needed.
If you’ve seen a fiber laser run, it’s very bright… however you can’t actually see it, because of the laser beams frequency, so you’re seeing what happens when you put the power to the material… lots of very broad band emissions in the visible light range.
The beam of the fiber is outside visible range, but you can see the light produced by the energy. This was done when I had an issue, so only the beginning is relevant.
Good luck
Thank you guys for such a deep answer!
I believe the safety shield and bundled glasses, as well as several other safety features, are required by governemental agencies.
I have issue with both, so I removed the safety shield and bought upgrade glasses. I regret neither choice. The good glasses have better visible light transmission and equal or better protection against the laser light while also being more durable and FAR more comfortable. The net effect is that I actually use them. They allow enough visible light thru that I can actually walk around safely and use both the PC and my phone without needing to remove themand they’re comfortable enough that I don’t get hot spots on my nose, temples, or ears.
The safety shield was always in the way, both physically and optically. I was immediately frustrated by the poor visibility during framing and then I snagged an already very low profile fixture clamp and ruined a workpiece. I took it off and haven’t looked back.
YMMV…
How does the factory safety shield vent gasses and debris?
Is it sucked up through the laser module?
I very, very highly recommend that everyone watch Ryan Priore’s talk at LBX where he went into detail about laser safety
Both mine have intake at the top and exhaust out the bottom. Parallel to the beam axis. In theory, the smoke is evacuated by a combination of the assist and module cooling airflow. It blows down against the workpiece and then a sharp 90 thru the gap between the shield and workpiece.