Stopped on my bike yesterday to see the progress on the latest neighborhood teardown. Framing is almost complete. It was real windy and a bunch of long 2×4’s that were standing on end came spiraling out of the second floor. A carpenter walking out the front door was about three steps ahead of getting harpooned by the falling lumber. That baseball cap wouldn’t have helped much.
I now realize that I never see people on residential jobs wearing hard hats. I bet everyone in the business has a story about someone that got clocked by a piece of wood or a tool. Why don’t the GCs and others in positions of liability insist on protection just to cover their own butts?
Replies
Years ago I was playing framer on a smallish new contruction job...GC got everyone hardhats the day after the claw of the framing hammer connected with my forehead at the end of a 15 foot fall. No fun.
>> Years ago I was playing framer on a smallish new contruction job...GC got everyone hardhats the day after the claw of the framing hammer connected with my forehead at the end of a 15 foot fall. No fun. << Were you and the others the GC's direct employee or subcontractors?
Everyone should have at least their own hardhat in the truck.........I usually have a spare as well. I hate the darn things but I am not stupid.
Sometimes they make alot of sense and sometimes they can mean the difference between getting on the jobsite or not.
On a hill by the harbour
I keep one in the truck.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Same reason bicyclist opt out - too lazy, too stupid to cap their gourd with protective helmet. Can't think of two more preventable closed head injury activities than construction and trashing on a bike.
People don't get it: one good smack on the coconut and you'll be ridin on the short bus.
regards, Carl
I wish I had one on this morning... I jumped up into the forklift--the one with the lower cage that I don't usually drive and crack just about knocked myself out on the top bar of the roll cage.
man that felt stupid!
I was forming concrete columns onece and the boss bought us all hard hats the day after one the standing rebar columns (bigs boys) fell and grazed a worker on the back of the head.
Hmm. 4 posts and two instances of the boss buying hardhats after the accident.
I work mainly in commercial and often hard hats are mandatory. However these regulations are enforced by the weenies in the job trailer. Hardhats should provide some modicum of protection from falling objects. The rule should be: Wear your hard hat when others are working above you.
Instead the rule is to always wear your hard hat. This becomes wear your hard hat when the weenies approach.
There are several problems with them. My main objection is that they add about 2" to my head and I am often working close to the ceiling [underside of the roof] and the stupid thing keeps getting in the way. Nobody is working above me and I am the one who is working above others down on the floor. And I do drop tools occasionally. But store employees, carpet layers, painters and building managers seem exempt to these laws of gravity.
~Peter, fashion designer for Nudie magazine
On my jobs hard hats 100% till the paint is on the ceiling.
Saftey glasses 100% of the time.
Gloves must be on your person.
All of these are employer provided per state law.
On the glasses part I really suck at that one I have them on lanyards constantly hangin around my neck, which usually means they turn into an ash tray.Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW
Hard hats full time, I guess I could come around on.
Safety glasses is a sure thing.
But gloves? Unless it's February, I wouldn't know what to do with a pair.View Image
Don't have to wear them just have them.
We offer 3 types---- brown jersey gloves---- leather gloves----- & the rubber coated fabric ones.
I use the rubber coated ones most, I can still assemble thing that have 1/4 & 3/8" nuts on them.
Soldering with them is ok but you have to watch out cause the heat runs about a 10 sec delay, notice your hand getting hot so pull it away from work & you have about 10 more seconds till the full temp is against the skin.Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW
I've always been into the safety glasses. I don't wear them constantly I keep them on my head though so whenever there's a motor running or something else that can cause chips to fly they get flipped down and I'm covered.
Hard hats only when required.
Gloves. I used to be like you up until this year. I'm tired of all the little nicks and cuts and pinches, so I'm getting pretty religious about them. My young hands (42) are getting pretty arthritic, and they shouldn't be. Ignorance of my youth. Besides Ironclad and companies like that have made them way more comfortable and easier to work in.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
Pm:
My wife is the Corporate Saftey Director for a 200 million dollar a year industrial contractor. She has lowered the company's incidence rate, which means they are qualified to bid more jobs. She has lowered their worker's comp rates which has made them more profitable. The policies she creates, impliments and enforces has sent many men home to their families after work instead of the hospital.
Saftey pays. Big. It's not even dabateable.
She occasionally works in a jobsite trailer. Does this make her a "weenie", or do you know absolutely nothing about which you speak?
I did heavy construction back in the days when the only option was the "tin" hat. Don't see many of them these days. They were a lot lighter than todays fiberglass or plastic jobs but probably wouldn't stop too much. Did have a crane drop a load of shiplap on a girder over my head which shattered the wood into fragments. The tin hat probably save me from some nasty splinters. Just out of curiousity, does anyone know if the tin hats are considered legitimate hard hats these days?
I think they cause too much of an electric hazard, like if a live wire feel on your head or something.Foundry workers and Red-Adair types still get to wear them though. They dont burn
We have the fiberglass cowboy hat style, Good shade, rain protection and they sort of look cool. Safety glasses al the time. Of course we just got busted on a photo shoot for FHB where the guys had stopped a curved ceiling job to wait for the photographer and started working out side so switched to sun glasses. When we had the camera set up for the shoot they came in to pose with the trim guns shooting up the ceiling. And took off their sun glasses. I didn't catch it so the article will run with one of my guys shooting a nail gun with out safety glasses and we look like clowns. Doesn't matter that we have a ten year no-lost-time safety record if people are seeing us shooting nail guns without safety glasses.
Good question. I don't think the aluminum ones are made anymore. But this is legal.
http://www.customhardhats.com/westernoutlaw.shtmlBe seeing you...
Aluminum full-brim is still the preferred headgear by PNW loggers.
Not necessarily, It does, however make here a hired botch. Jim Devier
"Saftey pays. Big. It's not even dabateable."Used to work in a hospital and walking in, never mind getting ride in an ambulance, is $1000. Hard to overerestimate the cost of even a 'simple' head injury. Head injuries and neurological problems are very expensive to treat. A million dollars is just a down payment for many. Bad ones end up being a lifelong disability. The costs of long-term care add up fast. Was once on a job where a 2' length of 5/8" rebar got kicked off a third floor slab. Hit a guy below end-wise. Good news was he was wearing his hardhat.Almost went through the plastic but hit about 2" off center, plowed a deep groove and went sideways. Would have spitted his head like a roast without the cap. He spent a week and some in a neck brace. And, sadly, needed too get another hardhat.The boss kept the cap and rebar as an object lesson.
I can tell you, from my days working in occupational health and safety for the Laborers, that "struck by" is the single biggest risk on a construction site.Yeah, safety pays.
It is a lot easier to write a rule or regulation which is absolute. If you're welding, it makes sense to wear mittens. But if you're doing micro-surgery, then thick gloves will not do.
As for the term, "weenie", that is a spur of the moment word I came up for those people who've read the books and seen the gory pictures. So they're educated but not field educated. There is a certain reality that a hard hat does not work when your head is inside a cabinet trying to make an electrical connection. I have been on jobs at which I have been the only one wearing a hard hat. I applaud your wife's efforts and results. I only ask that there be a little practicality involved.
At Hunt's cannery, green was janitorial; white was foremen; blue was the head machinist; yellow were the greasers; red was something else. I think Tony on the tail-off line had one.
~Peter, nudie editor of FHB
Pm:
My wife is a journeyman electrician, no longer practicing and served her apprenticeship at Local 8 IBEW, Toledo, Ohio. She's not high-heeled colllege girl making up rules from a book but a former tradeswomen who probably had her head inside a cabinet trying to make an electrical connection with a hard hat on. She's dug electrical ditches and crawled cable tray in the nuke plants and has more trade experience than most of the men on who the rules she enforces.
Can you tell I'm proud?
Thanks for the clairifying response.
There is a certain reality that a hard hat does not work when your head is inside a cabinet trying to make an electrical connection
Funny you should make that statement, a few years back on a Job where I was the Head Weenie, had an electricain hooking up a range hood, 1st year man.He got bit by the 110v, then losted his balance on the ladder he was on, bumped his noggin on the lower counter top outside corner. 8 stiches to his thick head.
Cant say for sure, but if he had the brain bucket on I don't think I would have been mopping up blood on the kitchen floor that day!
As we like to say, "Better Safe then Sorry!"
>> As for the term, "weenie", that is a spur of the moment word I came up for those people who've read the books and seen the gory pictures. So they're educated but not field educated. <<
You are still making some assumptions by saying the job site trailer weenies are not field educated. I know a number of "weenies" who got to the trailer by working their way up through the trades.
Re the hardhat issue, you are correct about the actual OSHA rule, the thing is you never really know when someone is working above you unless you are working on a building with all the finish material in place. In that case, you don't need a hardhad but you are not allowed to go out to your truck to get something... roofers may be up there making repairs - or who knows what. For example, the other day, flooring guy dropped an armload of flooring scraps off the 2nd floor balcony, just as a electrician walked out the first floor porch directly below. He wasn't hit, but came within inches of a big headache.
Great topic. I'm going to buy hard hats for myself and the guy that works with me. We've done several things recently that put one guy 10 feet above the other, mostly me up above and him below doing the cutting. Makes me nervous. I never let anyone work above me, ever.
the most recent job was
####safety meeting EVERY morning......minimum 15 minutes
hard hat,
safety glasses w / sideshields,
Kevlar gloves,........ us electricians were allowed to cut the fingertips off......,
hearing protection,
steel toe boots,
if drilling overhead, a full face shield, and goggles over the safety glasses, plus a dust mask and a GFI protected circuit for the power tools
a body harness if merely using an an 8' ladder,
and a traffic cone next to your ladder if your head broke the plane of the ceiling grid......
size of my crew.........2 guys
where was this you ask?
an office remodel for BP Amoco in a leased space...!
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
Okie city, 1932, derrick crew was issued hard hats, most didn't put them on, uncle deceided to wear his. The derrricks were lumber and 2x4 braces then yet. 2nd day he wore his, 3 ft chunk of 2x4 from 60 ft up whanked him on the head and knocked out even with the aluminum hard hat on. He had that hat still hanging on the wall (dent and all) in the sunroom or their house till the day he died in late 90's. Said that the next day after the 2x4 falling episode everybody was wearing their hats.
Had to do some troubleshooting on a floating oil platform in port in Corpus Christi last summer. 95 degrees, 95% humidity, hard hats, ST boots, plastic safety glasses over prescription safety glasses even, long sleeve shirts, --- got tired just wearing all the gear and only taking measurements. Glad for earplugs AND muffs though in the room with 3 big Cat 1 MW diesel gen. running.
I have been sold on safety glasses at all times ever since I was shocked with a screwdriver in my hand working in a breaker box and the reaction brought the point into my forehead.
Gloves I am getting more and more into. My body is getting less and less tolerant of latex paint, concrete, mortar, and abrasives. I remember when I saw a pic in FHB with a plumber working on a hot water heater and latex gloves on. It looked funny to me at the time but now I am on board.
The hard hats, however, go against my hard headed hatred of hats, any hat. We're not on big construction jobs anyway, so they would seem to cut down on visibility, balance, and any other justification I can come up for not wearing the thing. I guess I'll remain unsafe in that respect.
There is a society thing it seems for trying to make every aspect of life "safe" - which I think buying into is a self deception. You could be thrown off balance trying to hold on your hard hat and get strangled in your harness.
Not working in a hurry, being attentive to crap build up, alert for dangers by design - all go a long way in avoiding accidents. You can't just simplify it to "wearing a hard hat".
I have a funny hatred of hats too. I don't like them at work, they seem to get in the way.
But I wear them at home and don't mind at all.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
I think I saw that article with the plumber. I thought well why not, it's FHB after all and so when I got electric snake out to clean out a line I pulled on gloves. The cable grabbed the latex and started twisting. I ripped my hand free, but my hand was sore for days. Gloves? Nah, I'll just pass on them.
hardhats are like badge of honor, your name and company on them so everybody knows who you are, the color is the rank and trade of the indiviual , and the many decals tells wher you been and what jobs you have handle.
Is the color code secret, or are you allowed to tell? I've always wondered...Mine is green. What am I telling the world?
(I'm just a DIY: only wear it when I don't want something puncturing my skull.)
green.......means your a genius :).OK, I couldn't pass this up ,........http://www.professionalequipment.com/xq/ASP/ProductID.3509/id.8/subID.490/qx/default.htm
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
Edited 4/9/2006 4:44 pm by maddog3
I particularly like the matching toolbelt! I'm wonder how that would go over on the jobsite, probably create quite a "stir".
BILL
depends on who's wearin it too !.
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
green.......means your a genius :).
LoL, in my p/t world, that's aircraft handlers, and they all think green = smartest <g>
Red = munitions; purple = fueling; brown = plane captains; white = safety; yellow = cats & arresting gear.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
That is great! Only problem is... I may be female, but I've always disliked pink, & purple.
When you have hips, a tool belt can be a problem...pink or not!
Green = genius..of course! I've had mine since we did demo on our first house, in Hoboken, NJ, in 1977. I don't remember how I eneded up with green, but I have discovered that when it has been sitting in the basement, gathering dust & cobwebs, the dishwasher did a great job of getting it clean. I took off the leather brow band & saddle soaped it.
See, green = genius!
Here most are white or bright yellow. Coolness in the sun and visibility are the reasons. As for identifying what your job is, you'd better be doing enough of it often enough that nobody has to wonder.... ;-)
-- J.S.
the colors here are, white, super, foreman, clerks, paperwork pushers, yellow- electricians, green- plumbers, pipefitters, blue- operators. red- steel erectors, welders, some crane operators, purple- labor. black carpenters, concrete finishersforeman usually wore white with a color stripe of their craft.small bill and large turtle shell. I have two hats mainly for weather but usually wear the large turtle shell due to rain, and sun.. small bill for inside work.
several GC trailers I have been in had the pink hats for Visitors....to prevent hardhat theft I guess, since they cost about $5............ but it is cute to see some suit wearing onepersonally I think the pink craze is silly and stupid.
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
I woulda thought your hardhat was green because you were living in "The Garden State" when you got it....lol.
I still haven't figured out why we're called "The Garden State" anyway- must be something from the past. The offshoot "The Garbage State" seems more appropriate most of the time....
Bob
green around here is plumber
We haven't done the color by trade thing up here in a long time.
Usually every contractor has a color they paint their tools & equipment & the hard hats are usually the same.
We have some hot pink cowboy styled ones for people who forget theirs at home.Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW
I had an employee years ago who was a wanta-be cowpoke. Wore a plastic hardhat (OSHA approved, no less) that was a cowboy hat....rolled brim, creased crown....wish I'd've known about "Brokeback Mountain" back then.
And it was pretty damned heavy; amazing what some folks will endure to make a fashion statement.
I've always thought that those were goofy to.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
alot have cowboy hat here, there great when it rains everyday
Well, I have mixed feelings about hard hats. on the one hand, if you're on a big commercial job where there is a very real hazard of falling objects present, then by all means it's stupid not to wear one. however if I am by myself trimming a single story residential house, or in an office or store, where there isn't anything above me but ceiling, then what would be the point? I also hate having any sort of hat on my head and the distraction and discomfort it would cause would cetainly have a negative effect on my productivity in those situations where there is no good reason to be wearing one.
Eye and ear protection are something that I keep on my person at all times. Safety glasses are on my face whenever I am on a job site no matter the situation. and I always keep those little plastic earplug thingys around my neck. They go in my ears whenever I am running a saw, a nailgun, any noise-producing piece of equipment, or when someone in the same room with me is running something loud. I spent much too much of my youth listening to loud music and not using hearing protection while on jobsites and am suffering the fallout from that now because of it. I'd better protect what little hearing I have left!
I also have a problem with steel toed boots. I have tried and there just isn't a steel toed boot that I can wear that doesn't cause me crippling blisters 'n pain 'n stuff. Most of what I do is finish work, where there is a lot of kneeling and whatnot and you just can't do that with those awful things cutting into your feet. Add that to the fact that I have been in the construction trades for almost 3 decades and have yet to even hear about somebody suffering an injury that might have been prevented by the person wearing steel toed boots, I just don't get it.
I also have to agree with the poster who said that too much emphasis in our society is being placed on "protecting" us from accidents while we are really getting away from the more common sense approach of preventing said accidents in the first place. All the helmuts, airbags and seatbelts in the world won't prevent an accident. But staying alert, keeping your senses sharp, and just being aware of your surroundings at all times will go along way in life , not to mention on a jobsite, towards keeping you safe. " If I were a carpenter"
"have yet to even hear about somebody suffering an injury that might have been prevented by the person wearing steel toed boots"
And you still haven't. My steel toes prevented an injury. Without 'em, I would now have ducks feet. Flat, ya-no?
SamT
"Well, I have mixed feelings about hard hats. on the one hand, if you're on a big commercial job where there is a very real hazard of falling objects present, then by all means it's stupid not to wear one. however if I am by myself trimming a single story residential house, or in an office or store, where there isn't anything above me but ceiling, then what would be the point? "The point? I am very careful and look at safety as number ONE. However..... last fall I was working by myself, grabbed an extension ladder leaning on a 6' window frame, turned around and got smacked on the top of my head from behind by that window frame. Three hours and six stitches later I was back on the job wondering how can I be more careful!
Rich,
On union jobs I always wear my hard hat, on independant jobs I look to see if they are wearing theirs. (90% never do).
I used to wear hard hats carefully everyplace I went untill I noticed that it stopped work on independant job sites untill they were certain I wasn't some offical or OSHA inspector..
(not a way to endear yourself to the boss) Without my hardhat on you can bet my head is on a swivel. Still wish I could wear it always. I always wear my safety glasses, Wish they made steel toed loafers <G>
Hi Frenchy,
Check this out: http://www.workshoecity.com/slip_on_moccasins.htm
Wear 'em in comfort..
bum...keep smiling...makes 'em wonder what you're up to !!
BLUNDSTONE, the australian boot company, makes a cool, comfortable, slip on safety boot.
I wear these...... I needed to go up ####size anda half thoughhttp://www.steel-toe-shoes.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FE690&Category_Code=104.
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
I mostly do kitchens and bathrooms so not many people working above me. I've never really worn a hardhat,but what about hearing protection?
Whenever i'm running my router or planer I always have on hearing protection. If i'm milling MDF I always have a mask on.
What other protection devices do you wear?