Head/Face Protection

When it comes to head protection for workers, it’s important to understand the difference between Type I and Type II.

In December, OSHA announced that its inspectors will now wear safety helmets instead of traditional hard hats. This has led to “a future that includes Type II safety helmets,” said Kim Litchford, product development manager, head protection, at Cintas.

Putting on a hard hat or safety helmet before starting work on a jobsite seems like it should be second nature to workers, but “head injuries continue to be one of the most frequent injuries on the job,” said Zach Richman, group product manager of personal protective equipment at Milwaukee Tool.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought faceshields and masks into the general public’s consciousness. But to safety professionals and workers in many industries, face protection is hardly new.

Compliance is key to head and face protection, says Todd Conn, director of new market development at Grand Rapids, MI-based HexArmor. “Look for [personal protective equipment] that goes the extra mile to make their protection secure and comfortable enough to wear so it doesn’t get in the way of an employee doing their job,” he said. “The best PPE is the PPE that the worker does not notice.”

A construction worker is on the ground floor of a house being built, hanging drywall. Above him, another worker pounds away on the roof. Without warning, the at-height worker unintentionally drops a tool he was using, which hits the ground-floor worker in the head on its way down.

Whether it’s a faceshield to protect a worker from a chemical splash or a welding helmet to block ultraviolet and infrared rays emitted from a welding arc, the importance of head and face protection cannot be overstated. Here, industry insiders discuss what’s new in head and face protection and the importance of using the correct personal protective equipment.

Ensuring workers’ heads and faces are protected from on-the-job hazards is critical.

Head and face injuries can be as minor as a scratch on the cheek or a small bump on the head, or as devastating as a traumatic brain injury. No matter the severity, any head injury is one too many.

As with most personal protective equipment, comfort is paramount for workers who use head and face protection. Manufacturers know this and have responded.