Major Contractors are Swapping Hard Hats for Helmets in the Name of Safety - Should You?

Construction and hard hats go hand-in-hand. The quickest way to identify a construction worker has always been from their iconic headgear. The first plastic hard hats made the scene in 1960 and have seen some improvements in design and materials over the years, but are still intended to protect workers only from objects landing firstly on top of the wearer’s head. However, things are changing for the better in the name of safety – hard hats are being swapped out for helmets, which provide better protection for workers.

Major players in the construction industry like Gray Construction, Clark, and DPR made the shift to helmets years ago. Despite some worker resistance to this new type of personal protective equipment, leaders who have made the switch say it was the right decision and now mandate the use of helmets over hard hats for workers, subcontractors, and trade partners.

What’s the difference? Traditional hard hats are Type I safety compliant, protecting workers only from objects and blows that come from above. Type II compliant helmets, on the other hand, have padding to protect from lateral blows and objects coming from the front, back, and side as well as from above. This makes it ideal protection against falls, according to the CDC. Falls, trips, and slips killed 390 private construction workers in 2021, more than any other cause, according to the most recently available data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The CDC conveys that protecting the head from both the front and sides can make a big difference when a worker falls by lessening the blow that could cause traumatic brain injury. Often, head injuries result from trips, slips, or falls from 6 feet or less, meaning they can happen to anyone on the job site, regardless of the work they are performing. Lateral impacts to the side of the head, such as those from a fall can lead to concussions or TBIs. Type II headgear can help prevent that.

When Clark and Gray first adopted construction helmets, only a few retailers offered them, but now more than 10 national suppliers such as Studson, Grainger, and Lift offer Type II helmets. While they currently cost more than hard hats, with time costs should go down and lead to more adoption and fewer serious injuries.

One of the bigger challenges is getting workers to adapt to changes in PPE compliance. Before making any changes, Mark Ness of DPR Construction advises spending time educating the workers on the reason behind the switch and piloting different helmets to get employee feedback to ensure that the workers understand the reasoning behind the decision.

Brian Jones, CEO of Gray Construction believes “the most important thing is we recognize in this industry that helmets can save lives and prevent injuries in a very dangerous occupation, and if that prevents one, it’s well worth the investment.”