Why the Switch to Safety Helmets is a Good Decision
Don’t let your construction site turn into a risky business for your work crews.
- By Mary Padron
- Aug 01, 2022
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) happen frequently in industrial environments, including the construction, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture and mining sectors. However, the CDC states that the “construction industry has the greatest number of fatal and nonfatal traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) among U.S. workplaces.”
Falls Make Up About 35 Percent of all Construction Accidents
Construction is a perilous industry with a cornucopia of risks and hazards due to dropped objects, trips, slips and falls, working at heights, struck-by accidents, exposure to chemicals and concrete hazards and the list goes on and on.
Although numerous risks co-exist at construction jobsites, it’s important to remember that falls make up about 35 percent of all construction accidents. According to OSHA, “65 percent of the construction industry works on scaffolds,” so construction workers are at high risk for TBIs and their life-threatening or life-long consequences.
Some common traumatic brain injuries that plague the construction industry include concussions (mild TBI), skull fractures, brain hemorrhages, head bruises or contusions or hematoma.
TBI can lead to severe disabilities, including amnesia, coma and even death. The injury is tricky too because symptoms, like persistent headaches, confusion and speaking more slowly than usual, may show up several days or weeks after the accident.
Harnesses, guardrail systems and personal fall arrest systems are key pieces of conventional fall protection when workers are working six feet or more above a lower level. This type of PPE helps prevent the fall from happening. However, when a worker slips, trips or falls or is smacked by a dropped object on his or her head, the proper type of head protection is needed.
Innovations in Head Protection
For over a century, hard hats reigned supreme as the go-to PPE for protection against head injuries. However, it is somewhat ironic that the iconic hard hat was not designed to protect from slips, trips and falls, which are how most head injuries occur, leading “to over half of fatal work-related TBIs,” according to a 2016 NIOSH study.
The traditional hard hat, while beloved by construction workers far and wide, was designed to defend against dropped objects and flying debris, providing protection primarily at the top of the head. The traditional hard hat was not engineered to protect against the injuries from slips, trips and falls, which are often angled impacts that affect the top, back and side of the head.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.