If you work more than eight hours a day in a dangerous construction environment, you want the very best head protection. News flash? Not exactly, but workers, and their employees, don't always buy into the "safety first" culture when it comes to protective head gear. It costs money.

Adults often pay more than $50 to protect a child's head for less than two or three hours a week of bicycle riding, but when it comes to protecting their own head for a 40-hour workweek, a hat that is one-fifth the price of the bicycle helmet suffices. Employers will spend $100 to protect their employees' feet, but less than $8 to protect their heads.

Almost three-quarters of head injuries are caused by blows to the side, front or back of the head. But the majority of hard hats are rated to protect a worker from the top. The hats that protect from the sides, front, back, and top are more expensive (about $20) and represent about 20 percent of the sales of hard hats. A construction worker is not positioned looking straight ahead very often; he is typically bending over, looking left, right, or sideways, so gear should protect from an impact at these angles.

The Canadian Standards Assn. was the first to recognize the need for a new hard hat standard in 1991 with Z 94.1 - 92. Shortly afterwards, in Z 89.1-1997, ANSI adopted a similar standard and included it. In Z 89.1 — 2003, ANSI again designates hard hats as Type 1 or Type 11 to differentiate the two types. Type 1 is the "vertical impact" protection standard, and Type 11 is the "lateral impact" protection standard.

The testing for hard hats of both types includes penetration tests, employing a pointed object that strikes the hat. Furthermore, the hard hat is impacted on a spherical anvil to test for maximum force transmission. If the pointed object strikes the head, or if the force transmitted is higher than the permitted value, the hat fails and the manufacturer must correct the weakness before it can market it as an ANSI standard hat. In Europe, the standard conforms to the designation, CE.

To qualify for a class E rating, manufacturers must also ensure that the materials used to make a hard hat, both the shell and the suspension, are dielectric, as the hat must pass an electrocution test that protects up to 20,000 volts.

For a class G rating (general purpose), the conductivity test must qualify with a protection limit of 2,200 volts. Lastly, to qualify for a class C rating, a hard hat must be manufactured of conductive material. This would only be suitable in areas where there is no risk of this hazard. Some manufacturers vent their hats to provide airflow in hot environments, but this voids both classes E and G, so this should be considered when choosing one style hat over another.

Many companies like to personalize their workers' hats by adding company logos or slogans. Imprinting doesn't affect the integrity of a hat, nor does an adhesive label. But adding a label makes a hat much more difficult to inspect—it may be covering up a crack. A shiny label within a half inch of the edge should be a red flag.

What employers fail to realize is that a hard hat is a "one-time-hit only" piece of personal protection equipment. A small crack will allow conductivity to pass through the hat, compromising the impact protection.

If a hard hat falls onto concrete from a height of six feet or more, it should be thrown away. A company supervisor with responsibility for worker safety should regularly inspect the workers' hard hats for wear and tear. Hats with scratches and nicks should be replaced, as they have been compromised.

Hard hats are typically manufactured in high-density polyethylene, a shell material that has absorptive properties. For applications requiring heat and spark resistance, some manufacturers use a polybutylene terephthalate material. For additional lateral stiffness, manufacturers may use a copolymer of acrylonitrik-butadiene-styrene.

There are two ways to increase absorption:

• Increase the thickness of the shell
• Add a foam liner

Some manufacturers have tried extra ribbing on the shell for additional absorption, but this made the hat heavier and inconvenient to clean. The foam liner added less weight but had the same energy absorption.

Hard hats have an adjustable suspension inside to conform to the worker's head, allowing a tight fit. Regular hats use a pin-lock mechanism while upscale models use a ratchet. Although the ratchet is a bit more expensive, its adjustment is easier and faster. The performance test is the same for both systems—a static test that demonstrates retention before and after impact.

A company can "lead a horse to water," but workers who have been told about head protection and supplied with an appropriate hard hat will still contravene the standard by refusing to wear one, or wearing it backwards to be cool. Comfort and vanity are the main culprits.

As with many other PPE products, education and training are key to the selling process. Manufacturers have specialists who are trained to teach and inform company workers. In Canada, this fall, a new standard is imminent that states that construction workers must use Type II hats unless a risk assessment is done to warrant otherwise. How long will it be before others follow?

For information about North Safety and its line of PPE, call (888) 422-3798 or email marketing@northsafety.com