Hard hat history 4

[MotorCity]

I enjoy watching engineering type programs on TV.....about constructing the tallest building, the longest bridge, the largest ship, or whatever. In watching these various programs, I have noticed that any construction that occurs outside of the USA, all of the construction workers are wearing hard hats with a chin strap. While intuitively it seems like a logical idea, I have never seen this practice in the USA. Is this a geographic thing, a cultural thing, both? It probably boils down to money like everything else, but it just seems for being as safety conscious as we are these days, our hard hats would have chin straps.

 

[ScottyUK]

The Skanska example looks similar to the type which rope access guys use in the UK.

I agree that the use of helmets in some environments is almost pointless, anything which comes through 2' of reinforced concrete substation roof won't be stopping for my hard hat. But the rules say I have to wear one, so that's how it is...

 

[btrueblood]

"Probably for the same reason you DO NOT wear the chin strap on hour helmet in the military. "

Every picture I see of (modern day) military personnel shows them with chin straps on. Certainly pilots, airborne types and tank drivers are usually wearing them...how would a helmet stay on your head through a snap roll/jump from a plane/run through an obstacle course without it?

I have a distinct memory of my friend, as a USMC sergeant, berating one of his troopers who was on duty and had his chin strap unhooked (this was in late 80s, first of the new kevlar helmets).

Helmet specs since the end of WW2 have included a breakaway buckle to prevent injuries due to the helmet hanging up on something.

 

[cranky108]

Scotty, I think you are right about the hard hat not helping in some locations. But what I see is the people writing the rules not wanting to go too far with requiring them, or not requiring them.

Ever see someone mowing the lawn with a hard hat? It's outside work.

On the other hand, we require people who replace electric meters to wear a face shield attached to a hard hat, because of the flash potential of 480 VAC. Nothing is going to fall on them, but it holds the face shield.

 

[nonplussed]

In relation to PPE and some of the ridiculous rules, there was a recent death at the Port near where I live. A worker fell off the jetty and drowned. Someone I know was asked to investigate what happened and how it could be prevented in the future. Apparently the guy who drowned was found with his shoe laces half undone. He fell into the water and wasn't able to remove his steel cap shoes in time before drowning. His PPE equipment was essentially the direct cause of his death.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Are you sure that it was simple steel-toed shoes that weighed him down? The pair I used to have wasn't all that much heavier than a normal pair of oxfords. Perhaps he was wearing, in addition the steel-toed shoes, the much heavier and bulkier toe and shin guards often worn as a sort of 'overshoe':

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[zeusfaber]

There's an argument that says PPE is at its most useful if you've chosen it based on the risk of the job at hand. Depending on what's going on, the jetty of a working port is often one of those places where steel toe-caps, hard hats and hi-vis add value (not just theatre) - and there's plenty of jobs where a personal flotation device makes sense too.

A.

 

[cranky108]

So no hearing protection that snaps onto your hard hat?

No face shield for arc-flash? Or acid spray?

No fall protection?

I think hard hats are just the starting point for most PPE.

 

[zeusfaber]

Not sure if that was in response to mine? Quite agree - I was reacting more to nonplussed's story.

 

[cranky108]

No, I agree. Just that the number of different PPE requirements and the number of hazards makes it difficult for someone to know what to wear.

I also see that I might need a flotation device if I'm not wearing the right fall protection, while I am around a cooling tower.

But PPE is not everything that might be needed. Railing, or approach distance markings, or other such might be required.

But warning signs don't work if the person does not see or read them, or decides to ignore them.

 

[Compositepro]

And don't forget the lightning rod and grounding strap on the hat to protect from lightning strikes.

 

[ScottyUK]

Tin foil lining to prevent HR Department mind control experiements... ;-)

 

[waross]

Construction workers wear Hard Hats.
Mechanics wear Bump Hats.
There is a difference.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[JohnRBaker]

As I said, when I was in the field doing an install or upgrade, we wore 'bump hats' despite the fact that some of our machines were the size of a small house or building.

Here's a picture taken during the installation of a final bread proofer at a bakery in Forth Worth, TX:

Taken October, 1971 (Minolta SRT-101)

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[ScottyUK]

Bill,

We agreed to trial bump caps last year for work within substations because the safety guys weren't happy with us not wearing hard hats. We were undertaking major maintenance on a large MCC and there was a credible risk of someone standing up beneath an open panel door and hurting themselves. We found they were lighter and more comfortable than a hard hat, and less prone to falling forward or falling off. The downside was that at least one of us managed to walk halfway across site wearing a bump cap, mistakenly thinking he was wearing his hard hat.

 

[crossframe]

I generally don't wear a chinstrap, but I have one tucked up inside my hard hat so I have it with me (between the suspension and the shell, but down near the ratchet so it isn't really above my head). I have had to use it occasionally because of wind. I think the chinstrap photos outside the US are just compliance with whatever instruction are in place.

 

[davidbeach]

Chin strap is generally wrapped around the back of the hard hat when not in use.

 

[zeusfaber]

The chinstrap on my standard hardhat is attached using a snap connection that's strong enough to stop the helmet blowing off, but would break away long before it could transmit enough force to do my neck any harm. The strap almost invariably lives hooked over the brim at the front of the helmet.

If I'm working aloft, I'll chuck it in the corner and use a climbing helmet (which complies with the same standards) instead - proper harness, better view in all directions, but too pricey to be left lying around at random and lost.

...and isn't it time somebody mentioned the Kafkaesque nature of some of the PPE rules?

A.

 

[oldfieldguy]

Kafakesque?!?

I work for an energy transport company. That sounds more impressive than 'pipeline, doesn't it?

Our PPE is chiseled in stone and accorded more respect than Moses' tablets.

One of our rules is that you must ALWAYS wear a hard hat. Always. Like when you're working on a pipeline right of way twenty miles from civilization, in the middle of a soybean field where the tallest object with a one-mile radius is three feet.

In case of, you know, meteorites 'n' stuff...

old field guy

 

[JohnRBaker]

I've often thought that, at least in terms of color and cleanliness, hardhats could be used to tell who's-who around a construction site ;-)

Sort of like when I worked in an engineering office, how you dressed was sort of sign of your place in the 'pecking order'. Now this was back in the 60's and 70's, but where I worked, the draftsmen all wore short-sleeved white shirts and if you wore a tie, it was usually a bow-tie. Supervisors and designers wore long-sleeved white shirts and usually a necktie. Managers and engineers wore suits or at least sport coats. Now this was just in the office. When you were in the field, managers still wore their suits but when engineers were at a customer site it was usually to help install or update some piece of equipment so we wore company 'greens' and bump hats.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[berkshire]

The one item that I would get a charge out of, was a local contracting company. If you went to one of their job sites without a hard hat, you would be issued one of theirs. It was bright pink, emblazoned on the back was the statement " I forgot my stupid hard hat." .
They always got turned back in to the contractor.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.