30/10/2024
HELMET SEFTY IS LIFE
Helmets work by absorbing the impact of a crash, so they will be significantly damaged during a crash. For this reason, you should always replace your helmet if you're in an accident.
Yes, helmets can save lives:
Motorcycle accidents: According to the CDC, wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of dying in a motorcycle accident by 37%. Helmets can also reduce the risk of severe brain injury by 70%, head injury by 69%, and neck injuries by 50%.
Other motorized vehicles: Helmets can also save lives in other motorized vehicles, such as mopeds, electric scooters, and e-skateboards.
Number of lives saved: Between 2002 and 2017, helmets contributed to saving over 25,000 lives.
Are helmets used to protect?
Safety helmets provide vital protection against head and brain injuries. Different types of helmets offer varying levels of impact resistance as well as other features designed to protect wearers from a range of workplace hazards.
Helmets are used to protect the head from injury and death:
Brain injury: Helmets can reduce the risk of serious brain injury by absorbing impact energy during a fall or collision.
Death: Helmets can reduce the risk of death in accidents. For example, studies show that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of death by over 40% for bicyclists.
Other injuries: Helmets can protect against other injuries to the head and brain, such as electric shock and rain.
Falling objects: Helmets can protect against falling objects or debris.
Impact with other objects: Helmets can protect against impact with other objects.
Helmets are used in many different situations, including:
Sports and recreational activities
Helmets are used in sports such as American football, ice hockey, cricket, baseball, skiing, hurling, and rock climbing.
Dangerous work activities
Helmets are used in dangerous work activities such as construction, mining, riot police, and military aviation.
Transportation
Helmets are used in transportation, such as motorcycle helmets and bicycle helmets.
Helmets work by spreading the impact of a knock or fall over a larger area and helping the head slow down more gradually.
Choosing the right safety helmet
Safety helmets are only required on an as-needed basis, so if a risk assessment does not identify any risks of head injuries, then they need not need be worn. However, different construction sites may operate their own rules, and if a risk assessment has identified the possibility of head injury, then safety helmets are mandatory, regardless of the nature of the construction work, or the size of the project.
Safety helmets used on UK construction sites must be manufactured to British Standard (BS) EN 397, which includes rigorous tests for impact resistance and flame retardance, among others. Any employee or visitor to a construction site should be provided with a safety helmet by either their employer or the main contractor, but self-employed workers (including subcontractors) may need to provide their own.
It is important to take several factors into account when choosing a safety helmet. It is first necessary to identify the task to be carried out by the worker as well as the constraints and risks of the activity that need to be provided for. The level of protection required from a safety helmet varies according to the activity. For example, a construction helmet cannot be used for demolition work because it does not offer the same protection.
No one helmet is perfect for everybody and there are several trade-offs to consider when deciding which is right for a work environment. First is the trade-off between performance and comfort.
High-performance helmets are relatively heavy, and though they offer maximum protection, unsupervised wearers may be tempted to remove the more cumbersome designs, leaving them with no protection at all, so there may be a need to balance protection with comfort to ensure compliance.
The different types of safety helmet
Helmet
Protection
Accessories
Applications
Applicable standard
Bump cap
A close-fitting baseball cap style offering the lowest level of protection. As the name suggests, its function is to provide padded protection against knocks from static objects.
Chinstrap which fits under the chin to help secure the bump cap on the head. Can be equipped with an LED light.
Vehicle manufacture and maintenance.
Loft insulation.
Plumbing.
Removals.
Loft insulation.
Warehouse.
The EN 812
Safety helmet – lightweight
In recent years, lightweight helmets have become more popular. Being light, there is less material in them, so they are useful when there is a very low risk of anything falling on the head, such as in low-rise construction, utilities and highway maintenance. For someone working on the side of the roadway, or telephone or electrical engineers inspecting a cabinet, or a worker lifting a duct cover in the road, there is no actual danger of anything falling, but a helmet is needed in case a stone or another loose object flies up and hits their head.
Many applications include helmet attachments, and these often bring different performance characteristics from the “stand alone” item to be attached. An example of this might be earmuffs, whereby a headband version and a helmet-attachment version are offered. The different mountings result in differing noise attenuation performance. These are generally covered by the standard for the attachment type, e.g. hearing, eyewear etc.
Low-rise construction.
Highway maintenance.
Utilities.
Warehouse.
The EN 397 lightweight
Safety helmet – standard
This will be suitable if a falling object could hit the head, and is the most common type of helmet used in the workplace.
As above.
Construction.
Manufacturing.
External telecoms.
The EN 397 standard
Safety helmet – Industrial
The more traditional model usually weighs around 400g to 500g with a robust shell of uniform thickness. This is ideal for applications such as workers excavating foundations in a hole, where there is a chance that something may fall on them from the side as well as the top and hit them on the head.
As above.
Construction.
Manufacturing.
External telecoms.
The EN 397 industrial
Climbing helmet, also known as mountaineering helmet
This type of helmet has become popular with scaffolders to protect them from hazards such as swinging pieces of tube.
They also have a secure chinstrap, which will keep the helmet on the head should the wearer fall from height.
Rigging.
High-rise construction.
Building sites.
Tower climbing.
Energy and networks sites.
The EN 12492 These can also meet the EN 397 impact protection requirements, in some cases having extra padding for side-impact loads.
High-performance industrial safety helmet
This is intended for use on sites where objects and debris are likely to fall, such as in mining and quarrying.
Safety visors and ear defenders.
High-rise construction.
Mining.
Demolition.
Heavy construction.
Tunnelling.
Refinery, oil and gas.
Offshore / Marine.
The EN 14052
Anti-static
For use in potentially explosive environments.
As above.
Demolition.
Mining.
The EN13463-1
Motorcycle helmet
For use on British roads by motorcyclists and moped riders.
Goggles or visor.
Couriers.
Delivery riders.
British Standard BS 6658:1985 and carry the BSI Kitemark
EN 397 is the British and European standard that specifies physical and performance requirements (including testing) for industrial safety helmets.
It comprises of mandatory and optional tests: Mandatory Tests:
Shock Absorption Test – The 5kg rounded striker is dropped on the crown of the helmet from 1m. The force transmitted to the head form cannot exceed 5000N (5kN).
Resistance to Pe*******on Test – 3kg pointed striker dropped on the crown region, striker not allowed to contact the head form.
Resistance to Flame Test – When exposed to a flame for 10 seconds and then removed, the shell must not set alight or self-extinguish within 5 seconds.
Markings – Every helmet which complies to the standard must have the following information moulded or impressed into the shell somewhere visible:
– Number of the European Standard (in this case EN 397).
– Name or identification mark of the manufacturer.
– Year & quarter of manufacture (date stamp).
– Type of helmet (manufacturer’s designation): this should be marked on both the shell & harness.
– Size or size range (in cm), marked on both the helmet & harness.
– Shell material abbreviation (e.g. ABS, HDPE).
EN 12492 shock absorbance tests involve extra impacts at the front, side and rear of the helmet using 5kg flat and hemispherical strikers, each weighing 5kg. The transmitted force through the head form cannot exceed 10kN. The pe*******on test is similar to that for EN 397 but the strike test is applied to a bigger area of the helmet.
Impact tests on the crown of the helmet under EN 14052 use a 5kg mass dropped from about 2m, or 1m for off-crown impacts. For pe*******on, a 1kg blade is dropped onto the helmet from 2.5m (crown impacts) or 2m (off-crown impacts) and no contact with the head form is permitted.
Safety helmet colours from January 2017
Construction sites and UK Highways should adhere to the following colour scheme on all new (and existing, where practicable) sites:
White – For site managers, competent operatives and vehicle marshals (distinguished by the wearing of a different coloured high-visibility vest).
Black – For site supervisors.
Orange – For slingers and signallers.
Blue – For all other site visitor
Network Rail’s PPE standard requires only white and blue safety helmets to be used on site. Workers with additional responsibilities, such as a trained first aider or fire marshal, will be denoted by the use of stickers. On smaller sites a safety helmet colour standard may be impractical; in these cases, it is advised that a default colour of white is used as a general current practice.
PERFECTING
In Bangladesh, the use of helmets is required by law, but there are challenges to ensure that helmets meet international standards:
Standards
In October 2022, Bangladesh adopted a national safety standard for helmets. However, most helmets available in Bangladesh do not meet international standards.
Enforcement
The law requires the use of "proper" helmets, but it doesn't define what that means. Some recommendations for enforcement include training traffic police, setting up traffic cameras, and public awareness.
Quality
Some say that helmets provided by companies like Pathao, Uber, Obhai, and Shohoz are poor quality, fragile, and lack defensive material.
