Trends in ... head protection

In December, OSHA announced that its inspectors will now wear safety helmets instead of traditional hard hats. This has led to “a future that includes Type II safety helmets,” said Kim Litchford, product development manager, head protection, at Cintas.

“Type II safety helmets help prevent injuries better than traditional hard hats because they offer 360-degree impact protection to complement top-of-head protection,” she said. “They also feature a low friction layer inside the helmet that helps reduce the possibility of traumatic brain injuries.”

Added Dennis Capizzi, marketing manager for head protection and fall protection personal protective equipment at MSA Safety: “We’re seeing the integration of features that help to address additional concerns beyond top and lateral impact. For example, the inclusion of a thermal barrier that blocks the energy of the sun can help keep the inside of the hard hat or safety helmet cooler. Or the addition of a low friction layer may help provide rotational impact protection to help reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury resulting from slips, trips and falls.”

Joe Brandel, business development manager for the North America industrial safety market at Mips, said that although the danger of TBIs is nothing new, “the rising attention to rotational motion, a leading cause of TBIs, is promising.”

Find the right protection for your workers

Capizzi says he always reminds employers and workers that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to head protection. Instead, he walks them through selecting proper head protection.

The first step, he said, “is to conduct a hazard assessment, evaluating factors such as previous records of head injuries or near misses; impact and other risks including falling objects, lateral impact, electrical shock or chemical splash; job-related tasks or applications; and environmental conditions.”

He went on to say that customers often ask him: “Once I have completed my hazard assessment, what else should I consider when putting my head protection program together?”

MSA Safety recommends that customers consider “a full above-the-neck solution.” For example, do workers also need eye, face and hearing protection? “Ensuring that these accessories are compatible across your head protection solutions and made by the same manufacturer can help address a wide variety of industrial applications and simplify integration with existing inventory.”

And don’t forget to involve workers.

As Brandel noted, “Education continues to be key in getting users to understand the imperative of these safety guidelines.”

Compiled with the assistance of the International Safety Equipment Association

Coming next month:

• Foot protection
• Safety tools/tethers/knives