Helmets vs. Hard Hats The Future of Head Protection in Construction By MIRAYA FULTON, MARKETING COORDINATOR Milender White F or more than 100 years, personal protective equipment (PPE) has had one signature piece: the hard hat. It is iconic — like cowboy boots in Texas. Hard hats became the industry standard in the early 1900s, and they have done their job well by keeping workers safe from things falling straight down on their heads. But let’s be honest, construction has changed, and so has our understanding of safety. It is time for our head protection to meet today’s ever-changing needs. In today’s construction environment, safety helmets are taking over jobsites everywhere. Milender White, along with every company represented on ABC Rocky Mountain’s board of directors, has either already made the switch to helmets or is well on their way. This is not a fad, like parachute pants or mullets; helmets are the future. Why Helmets? Hard hats are good at one thing: the safe deflection of sudden falling objects. A few things that hard hats are not so great at protecting against are the other real dangers of construction: lateral hits, slips, trips and falls. That is where helmets shine. Take the Kask Zenith X, the model Milender White uses. These helmets borrow design smarts from rock climbing and cycling, where protecting heads from falls and sideways impacts has been the standard for decades. They offer all-around total skull coverage, plus a chin strap that keeps the helmet where it belongs, safely on your head. The Pushback (And Why It Is Fading) When helmets first appeared on construction sites, not everyone was lining up to trade in their trusty hard hats. We have heard it all — “They look silly,” “They feel different,” and, of course, “That’s not what a real builder wears.” 24
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