May 26 2023

Are You Safer With a Hard Hat or a Helmet?

The yellow hard hat, what could be a more iconic symbol of the construction industry?

Hard hat design has been so iconic in fact, that its design was relatively unchanged for many decades until very recently. Helmets can look similar to the traditional hard hat but can be much safer for particular applications and are making their way onto more and more construction sites.

The Difference

Hard hats only protect the crown of the head. There is no chin strap, so it offers almost no protection from brain injury in a fall. Hard hats are cheaper than helmets, so they are more widely used.

Helmets are customized for specific use. The most widely used helmets protect the head from falls. They use chin straps to keep them fixed in position and use impact-absorbing material in the liner to insulate the head from impact.

Since falls are the number one cause of worksite injury, helmets can be a game changer.

Scott Greenhaus, EVP at Structural Technologies, notes how a safety helmet reacts after a fall. “Safety helmets can protect not only for side impact but also mitigate the rotational forces that act on the brain during a fall. When you fall, you generally don’t fall straight up and down; you fall at an oblique angle, and this causes a rotation of your head, creating a differential movement between your brain and your skull,” he said. “This shearing action is a primary cause of TBIs (traumatic brain injuries). There is new technology available that is incorporated into a variety of helmets that protects the brain from these rotational forces.” *

You probably have heard about a similar problem in football. Helmets in the 50s were made of leather and offered very little protection. Helmets have improved somewhat every decade, but the urgency to improve football helmets has become a major priority in recent years. So many players have suffered traumatic brain injuries that we probably all remember a story about a particular player and how tragic the condition can be.

Between 2003-2010 traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) accounted for 25% of construction fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2020, there were 341 deaths from falls attributed to head trauma.*

Helmet Use Is Growing

Helmet use has surged in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. It is growing in the U.S. more slowly due to the increased cost and a lack of government mandates.

Currently, OSHA has no performance requirement for head protection. However, standards for head protection are kept by the International Safety Equipment Association and ANSI (American National Standard Institute). ANSI is expected to update its standards including a standard for helmets by 2024.

Of course, there are other elements that comprise a safe work site. Protection from falls however has to be one of the greatest considerations. Some companies have required helmets for any work over six feet. Banning ladders, addressing the most common way to fall, is becoming more common except when nothing else will do. Scissor lifts are much safer.
Wearing fall protection, goggles, and gloves all must be used for specific types of work, and taking shortcuts leads to injuries that cost the industry billions. Helmets may be a significant step in a future that leads to a much safer and more healthy industry.