Citation

Bottlang M, Hodgdon M, Tsai S, Madey S. Safety Sci. 2023; 168: e106296.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106296

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Safety helmets are promoted as safer alternatives to traditional hard hats, but few data on impact performance exist. Conversely, traditional hard hats have evolved to include Type II models that have liners for lateral impact protection. This study employed standardized test methods to determine if safety helmets outperform traditional hard hats. Seven safety helmet models and four Type II hard hat models were tested for their ability to absorb crown and lateral impacts according to standards EN 12492 and ANSI Z89.1, respectively. Three Type I hard hats were included for baseline comparison. For crown impacts, a hemispherical striker was dropped onto the helmet crown at 98 J impact energy and the resulting force transmission FCROWN was measured. For lateral impacts, helmeted headforms were dropped onto a hemispherical anvil with 31 J impact energy. The linear acceleration aZ was captured for front, side and rear impacts. For crown impacts, at least half of the helmet models in all three helmet categories exceeded the 10 kN threshold specified in EN 12492. For lateral impacts, all Type I hard hats and all safety helmets exceeded the 150 g threshold specified in ANSI Z89.1,while all Type II hard hats remained below the 150 g threshold. Safety helmets exhibited on average 1.9 times higher head accelerations from lateral impacts compared to Type II hard hats. For best head protection, helmet should be selected based on their ability to meet both, EN 12492 and ANSI Type II, and not based on a particular helmet style.

Language: en

Keywords

Brain injury; Concussion; Construction; Hard hat; Impact testing; Safety helmet