Hard Hat Safety

[bdbrown]

For the past three seasons I have been required by the company I work for to wear a hardhat, regardless of the specific regulations being enforced by the contractor. I feel that in that time I have come up with sufficient reasons to abandon the hard hat as 'required.'

The structure of a hard hat acts as an oven, heating the air trapped between your skull and the hat. If you wish to keep the sun off your head, use cloth, as it is breathable and accomplishes the same end..

If you have the opposite trouble of being too cold, you have the issue of trying to keep a hard hat on your head on top of a toque/whatever other layers you choose. Either you have to keep the thing tight enough that it gives you headaches/other tension issues, or it's loose enough to fall off, and there’s nothing worse than flailing to catch a falling hard hat/bending over a second time and spending the effort(and $time$) to re-fasten it. (if your tempted to be a naysayer here, consider how much a role momentum has in the planting rhythm, stopping to do anything is halting production..)
The comfortable medium is a mythical beast, whose existence is perpetuated by nothing short of misinformation and the 'just do what you're told' ideal in action. --- Either that or the comfortable medium exists in external environmental factors which are entirely out of your control. (Right temp/wind/bugs/whatever else)


I looked for the average weight of a hard hat, and came up empty, but I'll make a plea to your more rational side and suggest that it does have weight. This weight, being added to the very top of your head, will be putting as much strain on your neck as it can. I don't want to hear that it's just a hard hat and it shouldn't make a difference, because it very clearly does make a difference, and considering the nature of our work I suggest that any difference, no matter how small, still matters. With all the repetitive strain injuries that go around I don’t think that it’s too big a stretch to include this as a factor worth considering.

On to bugs, then. Having a black fly biting the back of your elbow is bad enough, making you take your hand off a tree/shovel, and smack it (or ignore it, and deal with a bloody elbow, and more thirsty bugs) Consider that same inconvenience, except the bug biting your head is protected by a hardhat, that you must remove, hit the bug, and refasten the hardhat (instead of brushing the fly away with whatever happens to be handy) … (you bug spray advocates keep it to yourself.. I'm not going to elaborate on this pre-emptive strike, but yours’ are all bad ideas.. I’ve tried your genius idea, and it sucks. deal with it)

Then the rain, that collects on your hard hat and pours off, soaking whatever lies beneath whenever you tilt this way or that. Unless you have a hood that fits over the thing, but then not only can you not hear anything, but you can only see a small window in front of you.

Now, I don't think I'm making any great leap of thought when I say that the best way to be safe is to be completely aware of your surroundings. How is blocking your field of vision, putting additional strain where it is not necessary, and adding extra perturbing elements to the job going to assist maintaining the awareness and focus necessary to do the job without jeopardizing safety.

This poorly coordinated approach at planter safety is what drives a planter batshit crazy.. we can deal with a lot of antagonism, but the blood and sweat coming into your eyes - blood from the bugs chewing on your forehead, sweat because you can't wear more favorable headgear because the combo is too hot, and you Must wear the hardhat- is just a painful reminder at how misguided the regulations are, and how little planter safety and comfort has to do with it. These hunks of plastic aren't cheap, and someone is making a lot of money off them, and quite frankly I think I speak on behalf of all planters when I say that I can find a much better way to spend my money.

Whether this was the determining factor in the regulations being put in place or not, it does not negate the point that it’s a bad idea. If you require a hard hat to plant trees in a cut block safely, you are not qualified to do the job. I want to see the falling tree coming, as opposed to being ignorant of it, and entrusting my safety to a hard hat. Those willing to give up freedom for safety deserve neither. (that’s right, I’m quoting dead presidents)

[thatguy]

Just plant trees and make money.... hard hat- oh well just put it on and plant and make money thats the bottom line, if they ask me to wear those inflatable things on my arms, or a life jacket around puddles so be it, i'll wear them and plant my heart out while everyone else is bitching about them, and I'll think to myself how good i look in it!!!!
instead of spending time thinking how bad it is all day, just think about something good and forget about the hard hat on your head..... and plant.
-thatguy

[Scooter]

instead of spending time thinking how bad it is all day, just ..... plant.

I agree that hard hats are pretty pointless for the most part (not 100%), but this is a great quotation. Fits so many situations.

[jdtesluk]

This topic was discussed at length in a previous thread which I cannot find. I would like to repeat what I had suggested to be done about it, but do not have the time to start from scratch. If anyone recalls that thread or finds it, please post the link.
Also, I believe someone else already indicated that hardhats are not required for planters by regulation. It is a practice required by specific contractors and licensees, sometimes under a certain set of conditions.

[Scooter]

http://www.replant.ca/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=64766

[bdbrown]

Thanks jdt and scooter. Great thread, I knew it was out there somewhere, but couldn't track it down.

Though I have had enough, and am simply resoving my issues by moving from ont. to bc., this is the type of organization that Ont. planters need. - http://www.wsca.ca/index.php?Page=230.0 -

Naturaly, we've covered the 'just plant.' This isn't a cache, and I'm not making you listen, I'm simply using the only resource I know of to bring issues that effect me as a silvicuture worker to light.
I, for one, don't want to wear waterwings; the more we just -deal with it- the more we will be made to deal with, and there isn't a single company out there willing to compensate workers for whatever tangible/intangible costs are inflicted by these regulations.

If you're willing to be someones bitch, you're going to be made someones bitch..
I think the key word is discretion. Let's try to hold on to what little of it we have left. Please..

[Gual]

That's what I wrote on the other forum:

"I dont really have a position on whether hardhats should be mandatory or not but it drives me crazy when people complain about wearing them or, much worse, refuse to wear hardhats on hardhat contracts. First its unprofessional, second there are much bigger things to bitch about 90% of the time, and thirdly it makes no difference to your work. Human beings are highly adaptable creatures and I just dont buy arguement that wearing a pound of plastic on your head is going to pose an obstacle to your planting. Any production slips from wearing a hardhat are purely mental brought on by a strangely virulent anti-hardhat culture in BC.

If it falls then you have not put it on correctly. If the band rubs against your forehead put a bandana on. If it is hot out well the hardhat keeps the sun off your head and will keep a bandana wet longer then just wearing the bandana alone; also a hardhat is a great place to stuff spagnum moss into. Hardhats are good companions in cold weather and come in handy during hailstorns.

So basically I'm a huge fan of them and wear them often when they are not required. I also think its unwise to go into a forestry situation without a hardhat within arms reach (i.e. at your cache)."

To add to that: if your hardhat is slipping then you should purchase a 35 dollar one instead of the seven dollars. If you think that is steep then remember fallers, firefighters and brushers will pay 70-100+ dollars for a good/WCB acceptable hardhat.

I put my hardhat on for hot days- unless your hardhat is made of darkened steel then its does not act as a oven. The hardhat allows movement of air over your scalp where a baseball cap will not. A hardhat will keep a moisten bandana wet for far longer then a bandana by itself.

As for rain, hardhat keep your hair/head dry and warm. If water dripping off them bothers you then I suggest either:
A) a wide warparound brim hardhat,
B) a jacket with a sizable collar or
C) purchase one of those little standard logger rain capes that attach to your hardhat.

As for awareness, the BC Wildlife Tree Committee places planting (and brushing/spraying) in a higher risk category then surveying and cruising since out of neccesity of piece rates and forest floor work activites, planters are far less aware of their surroundings then a surveyor or cruiser who's job it is to look at the forest canopy.

That's the one thing I liked about Ontario- mandatory hardhats and steeltoes... and the union but that's about it.

[thatguy]

if the regular hard hat bugs you that much then there is an answer!!!1
http://www.northlandconstruction.com/pr ... p?pid=3874
a cowboy hard hat is just what you need!!!!!

[bdbrown]

In baby blue too.. Sold!

[Coaster]

I knew a forester who used to enjoy showering with his hardhat on. If he had somewhere to go right away, his hair would still be dry! He was a poet trapped in a forester's body.

[Pandion]

To add to that: if your hardhat is slipping then you should purchase a 35 dollar one instead of the seven dollars. If you think that is steep then remember fallers, firefighters and brushers will pay 70-100+ dollars for a good/WCB acceptable hardhat.

I put my hardhat on for hot days- unless your hardhat is made of darkened steel then its does not act as a oven. The hardhat allows movement of air over your scalp where a baseball cap will not. A hardhat will keep a moisten bandana wet for far longer then a bandana by itself.

As for rain, hardhat keep your hair/head dry and warm. If water dripping off them bothers you then I suggest either:
A) a wide warparound brim hardhat,
B) a jacket with a sizable collar or
C) purchase one of those little standard logger rain capes that attach to your hardhat.

As for awareness, the BC Wildlife Tree Committee places planting (and brushing/spraying) in a higher risk category then surveying and cruising since out of neccesity of piece rates and forest floor work activites, planters are far less aware of their surroundings then a surveyor or cruiser who's job it is to look at the forest canopy.

That's the one thing I liked about Ontario- mandatory hardhats and steeltoes... and the union but that's about it.

What is your deal? Do you own a company that makes hardhats? The statistics for injuries in planting show that they are a useless safety measure. There are simply not enough head injuries that could have been mitigated by hardhats to make hardhats useful PPE IMO. If you're in a situation where falling debris (i.e loose slash on the coast or trees falling on treelines due to wind), you need to GTFO of there not put on a hardhat and hope for the best. There is nothing preventing you from wearing hardhats when you plant, but suggesting that they are useful for the rest of us is a load of BS. There is already enough of that in planting.

[Coaster]

Pandion can you share those statistics or provide a link? It would be very handy to have them to help persuade certain people that they shouldn't be forcing us to wear them.

[Pandion]

Unfortunately I haven't contacted WCB to get the actual statistics for head injuries among planters. Maybe if I had to work for a company that mandated their use I would be more inclined to do so, but to quote jdtesluk from the other thread,

I am not aware of a single tree planting fatality that would have been prevented by a hardhat. There are certainly numerous instances of fatal blows to the head in other forestry sectors, but not in planting. However, I am aware of a small number of head injuries in planting that may have been prevented or mitigated through the use of a hardhat or climbing helmet. These have generally been on steep blocks, and caused by debris coming loose and tumbling down on the workers.

I have also heard of numerous close calls where planters have nearly been struck by falling trees or branches. One cannot say if a hardhat would have saved them had they been struck, but it certainly would not have hurt them.

I think we can all agree that jdtesluk tends to err on the side of safety, so these numerous close calls are probably not so numerous. I can also say from 15 years of experience I have heard of only one head injury, and a hardhat would not have helped to mitigate this injury since the planter smoked himself in the face with his own shovel. I have heard of more rectal impalations than head injuries so maybe we should wear kevlar underwear.

[bdbrown]

Kevlar underwear or ass plug, I bet you could get one in baby blue to match your safety headwear.
Maybe a fencing mask too, just to reduce the risk of injury from self inflicted shovel/face related injuries.
......nope, that's all I got.

[shootermcgavin]

anybody here of a lil syndrome called 'osteoarthritis'??? the breaking down of cartilage from over use???

but hey, if a nut comes loose on a plane I'm safe. I'll have debilitating pain when I'm 80, but no loose parts from airplanes are going to get me on the block.

hard hats equals a big F you from the man.

[Scooter]

One of my rookies got hit by a falling tree on his first day of work, several years ago. As he stood there bleeding, he said, "F&*k this, this isn't what I signed up for."

But we laughed at him after we realized that he wasn't hurt badly, and he eventually realized how ridiculous the situation was. He was still planting this season.

[newforest]

possibly breaking out some hard-hats tomorrow. it's a tough decision. I think my client doesn't care if I use them. but if the safety inspector comes around...

if I ask a client that requires them why I have to wear them planting on a not very steep at all pile of dirt with zero anything over head for hundreds of feet from the planting boundary in all directions, he will say, "well, my boss might come out here today." if you ask his boss the same question he will say "well, the safety inspector might come out here today." if you ask the safety inspector the same question he will say "well, my boss might come out here today." if you ask the safety inspector's boss the same question, I don't know what will happen, because you will never meet a safety inspector's boss over something as safe as tree planting on a pile of dirt.

the safety inspectors should be doing something that truly increases safety, rather than playing a totally stupid game of cover-your-ass all the time. Stupid Safety just makes people less inclined to follow more important Safety practices. bottom line. or at least, it should be.

but, I think we will wear the hard hats, because we work on a slope made of rocks on this next job. and this slope is occasionally too steep to even plant. when a rock gets loose on this slope, it can bounce up higher than a human's head....and that could be ugly.



next up, hi-vis safety vest. can't have planters getting lost on a perfectly clean 5 ha site that can barely grow knee-high weeds now, can we? the safety inspector's boss might not be able to see them, after all.

[Scooter]

On steep slopes with the risk of materials rolling (rocks, logs, whatever), we aren't allowed to have a planter working "underneath" another planter.

On some of our jobs, we're required to wear pants, gloves, hi-vis, and hardhats. It seems like overkill, although you get used to it pretty quickly. But the hard hats are pretty ridiculous.

In your case, if your main concern has been confirmed by an immediate supervisor as being the perception of image "if the boss comes out," and there is no actual hazard, I'd recommend that you enforce a rule where all planters have to carry their hard hat in their back bags, and any time a vehicle appears on site, they have to put on the hard hat immediately. Let them know that if they fail to do that, they WILL have to wear the hard hats, and it should work.

[Mike]

instead of spending time thinking how bad it is all day, just ..... plant.

Funny, I heard that this was Khaira's motto.


Any version of "shut up and plant" constitutes an attempt to undermine a workers ability to think "Hey, something is being done wrong here." Mistakes happen, but the answer is never "forget about it and keep working" but always "How do we further systems optimize to ensure that similar errors do not occur?" (and before anyone points out planting is a non-ideal environment, I saw a company manage to go 23 days without a single thing that resembled a mistake; no late block closes, no late leaves, no horribly mispriced blocks, no waiting for anything, no inefficiency).

This phrase excuses employers and contractors making or allowing decisions that impact worker wages with no effort at compensation, contributing to the decline of wages that has put us in exactly the situation we are currently in.

[newforest]

in the long run, I am leaving them in the truck again this year. it's steep in places, but with all the vegetation, we haven't kicked a rock loose yet. and with only 5 total people out there, it is easy to keep anyone from working more than a few steps below another planter....which I think is point #3 in my safety plan, and well covered in the safety meeting before each contract. I sooooo need a safety meeting right now.

but it lead me to a question. I know when I first ever had to plant and wear a hard-hat, it messed with my sense of balance a little. I wear them all the time running a saw, but not with a planting bag on. It just seemed.....different somehow. So I'm not sure how much I like them at all on a slope.

[RPF]

I've seen some contractors apply for and get a variance from WorkSafe BC to allow climbing helmets to be used instead of hardhats.

[newforest]

I don't want to start another thread on this one. Maybe we should just have a catchall for absurdities - safety glasses, anyone?

[bdbrown]

the mechanics of the argument are simple.. take away peoples freedom-of-responsibility and they will stop acting responsibly. period

The SAFEST way is for me, the person most familiar with all aspects of the job that I am undertaking, to be FULLY in charge of my situation.

The reasons for this are simple, I know myself better than anybody else, I know my surroundings better than anyone else, and I know that the only thing between me and a career ending injury is my ability to constantly be making the best decision in each and every situation. My ability to do this is IMMEDIATELY compromised when someone else takes it upon themselves to alter my environment, takes that which is in my hands to deal with, and forces their way. Not only is it disrespectful at very it's core to me and my ability to take care of myself, but it perturbs a planter, it distracts a planter, makes a planter mad, more aware of how much money they are losing, more likely to take unnecessary risks to reclaim the losses caused by the mandated requirements.

At every turn it is exactly like watching the states try to establish their idea of democracy in someone else's country. Blundering idiots completely unfamiliar with the intricacies of a situation snappin a quick batch into our soup, then adding seasoning to fix the taste..

The only thing worse is the complete inability of those within the planting companies to communicate these truths to the foresters. The ones who are being paid to represent the treeplanters needs to the Government have, from all evidence available, done absolutely nothing at all but take their salary as compromise for planter safety. Shame.

I hear all over these boards that it's our responsibility to speak up when our safety is being endangered. Well, do you really want people working on your crew who are relying on steel toed boots and safety glasses to ensure their safety? Are these the type of people that you trust to be able to handle an anomalous situation on the block?
Is that mostly-confused-all-the-time rookie who states "Good thing I was wearing a hardhat!" immediately after smashing it off their head with an ill-timed shovel toss really the kind of person that you want to have next to you on the block.?

Socrates eat your heart out, I could go all day. This job isn't easy or safe, which is why I think it is imperative that each person be intimately aware of how their safety is their own responsibility, and having anyone on the block who thinks anything different is far more endangering to themselves and everyone else than any treeline on any windy day.

This really ought to be the limit case for credulity, if you're willing to restrict your ability to move fast and see and hear everything around you, you shouldn't have a job in silviculture.

Be professional, be surly, and let someone else take responsibility for your safety at your own peril..

sincerestish apologeez for making my stand..again

Newforest - sunblock is petroleum product, hide from the sun with layers, learn from those who live in the hottest climates around, don't mandate cancer causing agents onto all your workers to try to save them from cancer. Outta the pot into the fryin pan kinda thing.


s'all i got

[Li2CO3]

i know this thread is sort of old but just wanted to say....bdbrown, great posts regarding the hardhat (especially this last one). just finished my first season in Ontario and the hardhat is one of the main reasons I don't want to return (to ontario, not planting). anyways, you've already said it all but good to know there's someone else out there with the same mindset!! most people i worked with also took the 'shut up and plant' attitude. i believe the hardhat did slow me down due to the trapped heat, neck strain and resulting distraction from trying to avoid other worse injuries/accidents. i was always 100% happier those times when i was deep enough in a piece to take it off...........hated that it was mandatory to wear when i knew it was making the experience much worse!!!

anyway, i guess this post wasnt needed at all but had to have my first somewhere :)

helo replant

[chrisdunn]

BC Forest Safety Accord

Google for a good read. Everyone's jumped on board. Might as well join them.

FWIW, I feel safer in the bush these days. I remember the bad old days before the BC Forest Safety Council was formed.

[Evergreen]

BC Forest Safety Accord

Google for a good read. Everyone's jumped on board. Might as well join them.

FWIW, I feel safer in the bush these days. I remember the bad old days before the BC Forest Safety Council was formed.

Can't say I understand what to Google Chris?

The safety council unfortunately is focused on the harvest sector with planting being an afterthought. It would be great if they would spend some resources looking at how hard hats negatively affect the safety of planters. Western Forest Products has actually allowed a variance in their blanket hard hat policy. When temperatures are hot and there's no overhead hazard, planters can remove their hard hats. It's about time that our clients start to recognize that these kind of blanket rules simply don't make sense.

[jdtesluk]

I sit on the advisory council for a key provincial safety group directly involved with silviculture. I have identified hardhats as an issue important to planters, and asked that consideration be given to studying the matter in a proper manner, so that the industry can have some best practices to help guide them in dealing with this issue. Here is the basic summary of what I outlined. It is really just an off-the-top summary of the issue, framed as a request for the industry to support a study or provide some response to the matter. I know this issue is important to planters, so I have done my utmost to push it as an issue to be dealt with by the people that make things happen. In the meantime, I suggest people continue to work with their licensee on the matter, and take careful notes of situations like that which Western has allowed.

Hardhats continue to represent a point of contention among tree planters. Use of hardhats by planters is not clearly required by regulation, unless they are working in specific conditions within which hardhats are clearly necessary. This may include conditions identified by Section 8.11 OSHR, which include the requirement for head protection for any worker “in any work area where there is a danger of head injury from falling, flying or thrown objects, or other harmful contacts.”

Generally, the requirement to use hardhats is stipulated by the licensee as a condition of the contract. This has often resulted in planters wearing hardhats in the middle of clearcuts where no overhead hazards or potential falling or flying hazards are evident. It is important to acknowledge that there are indeed conditions in which hardhats may be appropriate for planters, including very steep loose slopes, and areas with variable retention, such as selectively cut blocks. However, these generally appear to be unusual situations, and hardhats have been seen to be assigned in a wide range of conditions without any features to suggest the presence of overhead hazards. The potential negative impacts of hardhats assigned to planters must be evaluated in relation to the incidence of head injuries. Certainly there have been close calls. There may also have been incidents in which injury was avoided by wearing a hardhat, but which remain unknown or unreported. No known fatalities have occurred to planters in situations where hardhats would have provided protection (this does not include brushing and chainsaw work). Planter concerns about, and resistance to hardhats, appear to revolve around three important areas:

1)Planters contend that hardhats are not designed for the demands of planting activities. They affect the balance of the worker, and create a limiting factor while performing work that requires extreme levels of mobility and movement. Planters are distinguished by their nearly constant state of movement, the large amount of distance they must travel, and their continual bending over to plant trees. Hardhats appear poorly designed for use in such activities, and not only are believed to slow workers down, but are actually believed by some to create an impediment to movement. Some planters contend that the hardhats actually create far more problems than they prevent, as any impediment on movement increases the risk of tripping and falling and suffering other types of injuries. It is also contended that hardhats create unhealthy strains on the necks of planters, due to the weight of the hardhats and the unnatural movements required to keep the head positioned as to prevent the hardhat from falling off.

2)Hardhats are poorly ventilated, and do not provide the shade afforded by other headwear typically preferred by planters. Temperature issues are seen as highly problematic for planters that are working at the peak of their physical capabilities, and are already pressed by the challenges of maintaining healthy body temperatures and adequate hydration. Increasing the temperature of the brain, has been found to be associated with various types of physical and mental dysfunction. Overheating of planters and the early influence of heat exposure can hamper physical performance, and potentially increase risk of heat injuries and other types of injuries as a result of exhaustion or losing one’s balance. Additionally, sweat running down into the eyes of the planters necessitates continual wiping of the face with soiled hands, increasing exposure to seedling pesticide residues.

3)Requiring use of hardhats in areas free of obvious overhead hazards undermines respect for safety regulations and programs. Planters continually point to hardhat rules as a policy symptomatic of a safety system that is focused more on corporate risk aversion than actual worker safety. Forcing planters to wear hardhats in situations where overhead hazards are absent increases cynicism towards safety programs, and inhibits the ability of a company to build a positive safety culture.

As such, it is suggested that the issue of hardhat use by tree planters be studied to reach a set of appropriate best practices for the industry. A research project on this topic should attend to the following issues:

· Review of all specific regulatory references to hardhat application, as they may apply to planter activities.

· Review of all tree planter injuries to determine the incidence of head injuries, and conditions under which these have occurred.

· Examination of the types of head injury risks faced by tree planters, with reference to the distribution, frequency, and potential severity of theses hazards.

· Examination of actual hardhat applications among planters.

· Testing of temperature affects of using hardhats in both high heat, and direct sunlight exposure. This may be tested both in term of temperature and potential impacts on human performance. Existing research on brain temperature affects should be reviewed. Analysis should attend to the affects of such temperatures on worker health and performance. Results must be placed in the context of the physical demands of planting activities.

· Testing of ergonomic impacts of hardhats on physical activities such as tree planting. This may be based on both qualitative inquiry, and potential experimental methods involving onsite performance examination.

· If possible, comparison of injury rates among planter wearing hardhats versus planters not wearing hardhats (including reference to MSI and other minor ergonomic injuries). This is recommended in order to determine any potential maladaptive impacts of hardhat use on human performance, and potential links to injury rates.

· Examination of other types of protective headgear (and potential hardhat modifications), and the measures that must be followed to obtain variances for such gear.

It is noted that application of PPE should not be the first step taken to control a hazard. The hierarchy of controls should always start with elimination of risks, substitutions, engineering, administrative, and finally PPE. It is not clear that adequate steps have been taken to utilize the specific controls directly required by best practices to protect planter health and safety. This basis specifically, should prompt careful review of hardhat applications among planters. The goal of this study may to be produce a set of recommended industry best practices regarding application of hardhats among planters, with a list of conditions under which such PPE may or may not be advisable.

EDIT- since this post- use of mountaineering helmets has become more widepread, and addresses many of the concerns related to the use of head protection.

[chrisdunn]

I'm not trying to rock the boat, jdtesluk that's a well thought out reply.

I didn't know that the issue has been brought up to the higher-ups.

I'm easy either way, hardhat or no hardhat. Whatever keeps the pay checkers happy.

What I meant about the BC Forest Safety Accord is for workers to review it occasionally as a reminder of their rights and responsibilities as related to safety in a BC foresty related workplace. Including treeplanting.

[RPF]

I believe that certain rock climbing helmets can be used as a suitable substitute for hardhats. A variance from WorkSafe BC may be required to satisfy certain licensee requirements around mandatory hard hat policies.

[Golden]

Just been catching up on this conversation...very interesting.

I wonder what would happen to the hard hat rules if there was a substantial spike in WCB claims due to heat stroke/exhaustion and related to hardhat use.

[ohsnap]

This photo pretty much sums up my issues and thoughts about hard hats. :)

[Scooter]

Here's a thought-provoking graphic. I wonder how much good a hard hat would do if she got hit? Mind you, if she was hit by a smaller branch, then yes, the hard hat could definitely save a life.

[bdbrown]

if your best defense from blunt force trauma to the head is a hardhat you're in the wrong industry.. my sense's are my defense, and a hardhat messes with one's situational awareness.. I don't give a shit about anybody else, the hardhat makes ME less safe.. fuck y'all

[bdbrown]

cept you, you're alright.. wicked sensitive, but alright

[Scooter]

There's a new twist into the hard hat argument. Check out how Aeschylus died:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus

[srochon]

So far I've only been on coastal contracts that require helmets, and for the most part had no problem with them. I seem to hit my head more on dumb branches that were not visible thanks to altered peripheral vision, but for the most part they make sense when you're scaling up and down a big ol' bluffy mountain.
However, really wish we could take the damn things off when on relatively flat ground and burning hot without being shamed.

[Scooter]

Speaking of Hard Hat Safety, there's this:

https://twitter.com/HoldThisBeer/status ... 5466471424