Many contractors today require workers to wear helmets with anti-concussion technology to protect against side, back and front head impacts, as opposed to hardhats that only shield against impacts from above.
In December, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it was replacing traditional hardhats for its employees with ANSI-Z89.1-certified Type II safety helmets when they work on sites.
In Sweden, a partnership between MIPS Corp., a company that specializes in helmet-liner systems for protecting the brain, and Guardio Safety AB, a Swedish industrial safety firm, has led to the release in June of a construction hardhat, or helmet, designed to mitigate brain-damaging forces that often are suffered in construction falls.