Head injury hazards can arise at construction sites. Things that can pose such hazards include objects at risk of falling and large equipment.
A head injury can have severe implications for a construction worker. Such injuries can even result in a construction worker losing their life.
Thus, head injury protection can be vital at construction sites. One device that can provide considerable head injury protection to a construction worker is a hard hat.
However, there are things that can lower a hard hat's protective abilities. Such things include:
- Exposure to certain kinds of cleaning agents, paints and paint thinners.
- Prolonged exposure to sunlight or extreme heat.
- Perforations, cracks or other deformities.
- Holes being inserted.
- Labels being applied.
- Manufacturing or design defects.
It is important for construction companies to take proper steps to prevent hard hats they provide their workers from being exposed to conditions that could leave their protective abilities compromised, keep such hard hats properly maintained, adequately monitor hard hat condition and take hard hats that are compromised out of service. It is also vital for hard hat manufacturers to ensure that the hard hats they produce do in fact have the protective abilities they are supposed to.
A hard hat they are using being compromised can up a construction worker's risk of suffering a head injury on the job. When a compromised hard hat was a contributing factor in a construction site head injury, it can be important to uncover how it became compromised, as this could have compensation-related implications.
Source: Safety+Health, "Hard hats: Know the facts," Dec. 21, 2015
