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Head Protection
Because your head is the most important part of your body, it’s important to protect your head from injury. This safety topic covers some of the essential steps you must take to avoid injuries to your head and what type of equipment you can use to protect yourself.
There are many causes of head injuries. The injuries below are the most common :
- Lacerations, contusions or concussions caused by falling or flying objects or striking head against objects.
- Electric shock and burns to the head caused by contact with energized electric conductors.
Head protection equipment is one of the best ways to avoid injury. It is important to know how head protection works to get the maximum protection available. Hard hats can help shield your head from several hazards. Safety headgear is intended to reduce the force of falling objects and electric shock when working near exposed electric lines or other electric conductors. Here's how safety helmets (often called hard hats) help prevent serious injury :
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The hard shell resists and deflects the blow. It distributes the impact over a larger area. The helmet harness (or suspension) inside the helmet acts as a shock absorber. Even if the helmet dents or shatters, the harness still takes some force out of the blow.
There are three categories of helmets available:
- Class A helmets reduce the impact of falling objects and reduce the danger of contact with exposed low-voltage conductors
- Class B helmets reduce the impact of falling objects and reduce the danger of contact with exposed high-voltage conductors.
- Class C helmets reduce the impact of falling objects, but they do not protect you from electric conductors.
Always make sure your helmet is in good working condition and has not deteriorated in any way causing loss of protection. This, along with some common sense will assist you in creating an environment that is safe and lessens the chance that you could receive a head injury.
Some quotes taken from 'Head Protection' by the National Safety Council.
All information for this safety page provided by the National Safety Council from the Helmet Safety booklet copyright 1996.