Concussion-Reducing Helmets Gaining Ground in Construction

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the construction industry has the greatest number of fatal and nonfatal work-related traumatic brain injuries in U.S. workplaces. From 2003 to 2010, 2,210 construction workers died because of a TBI (a rate of 2.6 per 100,000 full time equivalent workers). These deaths represented 25% of all construction fatalities and 24% of all work-related fatalities among all industries during that period.

In its Dec. 11 message outlining its staff policy, OSHA recommended Type II safety helmets be used by people working in construction, oil and gas; in high-temperature, specialized work and low-risk environments; performing tasks involving electrical work and working from heights. But some in the industry are already ahead of the curve.

“We started looking into how we’d do this in 2015,” says Seth Randall, regional safety director at Clark Construction. “In 2016, Clark Concrete was one of our self-perform divisions where every carpenter, laborer, cement mason all went to Kask.” The initiative quickly spread. “Six months later, as a company we strategically began to roll them out, and by 2017 every Clark employee was all-in on helmets.”

Clark went with a Type 1 helmet meeting the performance requirements of European standard EN-12492.

Related:OSHA Recommends Construction Workers Wear Helmets

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