We’re all quite used to seeing hard hats worn on work sites. Perhaps you’ve worn one in your workplace, or when visiting a construction project. They’re worn by everyone from welders to geologists. They are so common that we almost take them for granted, but it is important to appreciate how they can save your life.
Safety regulations require all workers in certain areas to wear hard hats. If there is a reasonable likelihood of an object falling upon someones head, they must wear a hardhat in that workplace. Even if employees are unconcerned with safety, their employer may be legally compelled to require protection.
Merely being made of a hard strong material isn’t enough to make good protective head wear. A steel hat struck with a brick would not protect the wearer from the force of that impact – they’d just feel the impact of the stiff hat against their head instead of the brick! Hard hats work better than a mere protective shell because of the webbing that secures it to a person’s head.
What actually protects you from serious injury is the gap between the hard shell and your head. The hat’s webbing suspends it several centimeters from your head. If a heavy steel pipe bumps the head of someone at a safe work site, their protective hat will absorb the force and distribute it across the helmet’s internal webbing. If the pipe were to strike them directly, all the force would land in a very small area and cause a concussion or fracture.
Workplace helmets that lack this suspension system are called “bump caps”. They are meant for situations where the only risk is of minor injury, like bumping against a low ceiling. If your workplace doesn’t call for heavy-duty protection you might consider one of these instead, but you need to know the difference so that you don’t rely on one to protect against heavy falling objects.
Picking the right one is important. If you are working with electricity, you might need a class G or E hard hat. Class C is conductive, so you’d hate to choose one of those accidentally. Also, although hard hats are mostly associated with protection against things falling straight down, some workplaces also present the risk of a lateral blow for which you would want a Type 2.
Of course, worse than the wrong type would be none at all. Hard hats are widely used, and for good reason. Not only are they required in many jobs, but if you work anywhere that presents a danger of head injury, you’ll want quality head protection.
Hard hats come in all shapes and sizes check out the cowboy hard hat selection at http://CowboyHardHat.org/.
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