How to choose the right safety helmet for you and your environment
Choose the right safety helmet | Step by Step guide:
Making sure you have the correct safety helmet is vitally important, this is your last level of defence against life threating injuries at work. When working on a construction site you require protection from falling objects but how do you make sure you have the RIGHT construction safety helmet for the job?
Step 1 – Standards:
When looking to choose the right safety helmet or hard hat, as they are typically called. Your first thought should be to understand what EN safety standard your product needs to conform to. The most common standards in the UK are below with a brief description of the specific standard.
EN 397: Impact Protection EN 397 is a European Standard that specifies the physical performance requirement of a safety helmet. For a helmet to achieve EN 397, there are certain mandatory tests that the helmet must pass. These include:
Resistance to Penetration
Shock Absorption
Flame Resistance
EN 14052: Further Impact Protection Building on EN 397, EN 14052 governs the more complex tests attributed to greater levels of impact. This includes impact to the front, rear and sides of the head, and also included tests regarding the retention system of the headband and chin strap.
EN 50365: Electrical Insulation EN 50365 specifies whether the helmet is electrically insulated for use during low voltage installations. Specifically, these helmets are tested for working close to live parts on installations not exceeding 1000Vac or 1500Vdc.
EN 12492: Mountaineering For tasks such as mountaineering, specific tests are carried out to ensure the safety helmets meets a required quality. EN12492 is a standard directly targeted towards such occupations. Used within numerous industries that involve working at height.
EN 812: Industrial Bump Caps This standard directly applies to "bump caps" intended to provide protection against bumps caused by walking into hazards such as low hanging objects. Bump caps should not be used where a safety helmet is required, as they do not protect against falling objects or projectiles.
Step 2 – Style:
Once you have understood the standard required for your line of work you can then look at the style of the safety helmet to better match the environment you are working in i.e. if you are typically working in a confined space then our recommendation would be to have a micro peak style.
If you are working at height we would recommend a safety helmet with a 4 point chinstrap attached to prevent your safety helmet from falling off your head and leaving you unprotected.
Safety helmets although they can all look very similar; they are in fact ‘in most cases’ offering something unique for specific application or preferences.
Step 3 – Material:
So now you understand the standard you need to meet and the style your hard hat requires, the next step will be to determine a material that best suits your needs. The main materials to consider are:
ABS - ABS or "acrylonitrile butadiene styrene", is a common thermoplastic. It is a highly stiff material with a strong heat-deflection temperature and is generally more expensive than HDPE.
HPDE - High-density polyethylene or "HDPE" is a thermoplastic polymer that is also quite common in the industrial world. It has a higher flexibility and toughness than ABS, and also boasts a slightly higher resistance to solvents.
EVO 2 Safety Helmet - EN397
Step 4 – Colour:
This may be seen as a step which doesn’t hold as much importance as other sections of this blog but this is essential for some construction companies. Some companies decide to choose a hard hat based on their company colours to boost their overall appearance in the marketplace.
Some companies have a colour coded system where certain operatives will wear specific colours to make it clear on there role at the company an example of this is below:
White - for site managers, competent operatives and vehicle marshalls (distinguished by the wearing of a different coloured high-visibility vest).
Helmets often feature a peak on the front of the helm that allows for protection against direct rays of sunlight. Alternatively, a shorter peak may be more useful during tasks that are in confined spaces.
Ventilation:
To provide cooling airflow and improve moisture management, helmets can be fitted with top, side, and rear vents. Likewise non vented is ideal through the winter months to prevent rain coming inside your safety helmet.
Weight:
Some helmets are more lightweight than others. A heavier helmet can be more robust, but a lightweight helmet will allow the wearer to endure longer periods of wear.
Reflective stickers for visibility:
Some helmets are fitted with reflective stickers such as CR2. These surfaces will reflect light in low-light conditions allowing for a greater depth of visibility.
Sweatband:
Helmets are often fitted with sweatbands with absorbent materials. More expensive safety helmets are afforded more absorbent materials which ensure longer use. Replacement sweatbands are available to replace.
Comfort:
Safety helmets are fitted with cradles such as webbing inside the helmet. Usually, these are either a comfortable textile webbing cradle, or a more perfunctory polyethylene cradle.
Type of Ratchet System:
Some helmets have a slip ratchet which is most common and others have wheel ratchets which offer a greater adjustability for the wearer.
Conclusion:
To conclude choosing the correct safety helmet for your line of work is obviously essential for your own personal safety, taking the time to follow these steps will ensure you are as safe as you can be at work. To wrap this blog up below is a few of our top picks within the industry currently in 2021.
