By Jessica Price, Kent Companies, Inc.
Would you believe the iconic construction hard hat is over 100 years old? The E.D. Bullard Company manufactured the first “hard boiled” hat from canvas, glue and black paint in 1919. It was shellacked for strength and had an inner suspension system to distribute the force of potential impacts. The hard hat was originally worn by miners, and only by choice. It wasn’t until the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1931 that
employers required workers to wear hard hats.
Today, we expect change in every aspect of our business. From building plans, to schedule, commodity prices and even the weather. It’s time we use today’s technology to upgrade one of the most important components of PPE – the hard hat. Change can be difficult to navigate, especially when it involves generational change. After all, a hard hat is a personal memoir for craft professionals – showcasing the projects and the grit that shape their career over decades.
Smart contractors approach a major PPE upgrade with a plan. Here are five tactics to shape your strategy.
Tactic #1: Know Your Why
We all have a shared goal. Everyone goes home safe every day. Knowing the “why” behind this organizational change is important because the cost to convert can be significant. Yet safety goes beyond a hard hat, high visibility vest, and safety glasses. Safety is a mindset.
Many incidents of traumatic brain injuries could have been prevented by top, front, side and rear impact protection. Climbing-style safety helmets equip teams to work as safely as possible.
While traditional hard hats provide an effective safeguard from falling objects, they fail to protect workers from side impact hazards, and they come off with slips, trips and falls. OSHA reports that falls and “struck by object” incidents account for more than 40% of construction fatalities. Even if not fatal, traumatic brain injuries pose a serious risk to workers’ long-term health and wellness.
Leadership must believe safety is more than PPE. It’s for the good of their people.
Tactic #2: Build the Team
Who needs to be involved? Collaborate as a group to implement change – starting with safety and field leaders, to human resources, marketing and company leadership.
It is crucial to work in tandem with each department internally to explain the “why” behind new policies, laying the groundwork to effectively implement them.
Tactic #3: Partner for Success
Staying on the leading edge of safety is essential. Partner with lead users in the field for fit tests and trial periods before roll out. These field leaders become your newest safety and PPE champions. After trialing various options in the market, choose an option with a balance of safety, quality, functionality and design that fits your organization’s budget.
Partner with a supplier that has both national reach and logistics, such as WESCO, Fastenal or MSC. Having a distributor of wide-ranging industrial and construction products can service your team effectively by helping you better understand the benefits of safety products and have accessories ready to go.
Tactic #4: Align Policy & Procedure
Ensure all human resources and safety compliance policies are set in place.
On the human resources desk, PPE usage must be outlined in documentation. It is the human resources department’s responsibility to ensure all policies, training and onboarding accurately state PPE guidelines and requirements. The human resources team stays on top of requirements to ensure the most up-to-date protocols are executed – from recruiting and onboarding and among long-tenured employees, too.
Equipping employees with proper PPE is important, and enforcing the proper use of the PPE is essential. Full-time safety managers work to educate teams by highlighting the benefits of the climbing-style helmets compared to older hard hats. On-going education and awareness of the benefits of the climbing-style helmet increases compliance with proper use. The chin strap ensures the helmet stays on in a full range of motion, whether finishing concrete or working at heights. Safety managers perform daily inspections of our job sites, and they train field leaders to complete thorough job hazard analyses every day.
Tactic #5: Strategic Communications
Distribute the message via external and internal communications.
Plan for message dissemination across all channels. It is crucial to clearly communicate policies internally through orientation, handbook and/or safety manual updates and on-going training. The learning never stops. Provide continuous education on best practices, including toolbox talks on how to properly use PPE.
Externally, be sure to update your company’s brand image with customer communications and public relations efforts in your immediate market. Consider photos and imagery that match your new PPE on social media and website pages.
What comes next?
While some contractors are detracted by the hurdles of converting to climbing-style safety helmets – change, appearance and cost – the benefits cannot be understated. Climbing-style helmets provide critical protection from side impact incidents; their durability and longevity surpass traditional hard hats.
Protecting your people means you are protecting your customers, too. Climbing-style safety helmets are a hot topic on job sites and are already required by some general contractors. Pave the way for other subcontractors by implementing these safety standards proactively.
It’s time to call on a nationwide safety upgrade. Do what’s right for your people to get them home safe every day. It is this type of integrated thinking that will allow us, as an industry, to reinvent the hard hat.
Sources:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_872441
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-hard-hat-180974238/
About the Author
Jessica Price oversees marketing and communications for Kent Companies, Inc. Kent Companies is the 10th largest concrete contractor nationwide and employs more than 1,600 team members in nine offices across the country. Visit www.kentcompanies.com to learn more.
