When working at height, or on a construction site, protecting your head is a top priority. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) includes helmets, such as hard hats and bump caps. The type of work you’re doing will affect which one you need.
What Is a Bump Cap?
As the name suggests, bump caps are designed to protect against bumps. That is, they’re intended to protect you against small impacts with hazards. So, if you’re in an enclosed space, you may knock your head against a support beam or door frame. Bump caps are designed to protect your head from any injuries that might result from such impacts.
A bump cap is usually quite light, and fits closely to the head, which means it would be best used in confined spaces, or in work sites where there is no risk of objects falling from above. Workers who might wear bump caps include mechanics working in or around vehicles, baggage handlers in or near aeroplane holds, or food processing workers.
What bump caps cannot do is protect your head from heavy impacts. A bump cap is not designed to protect your head from a fall, or from debris landing on your head from above, or from impacts caused by a moving object. So, if you’re working in an environment where these risks exist, such as on a construction site, what can you wear instead?
What Is a Hard Hat?
Hard hats are a legal necessity on almost all construction sites, as per Health and Safety Executive Guidelines. All work should be organised to mitigate the risk of head injuries as far as possible, but because such risks are always present, all workers should be provided with suitable head protection.
This protection comes in the form of hard hats, which are designed to protect against falling or moving objects. Hard hats are made of more durable plastics than bump caps, and are designed to redistribute impact away from your head.
Head Injury Risk Assessment
To determine whether you need to provide and wear a bump cap or a hard hat, it’s important to carry out a thorough risk assessment ahead of your task.
If the work requires working at height, working around moving objects, or involves the risk of falling objects, you should wear and provide hard hats.
If the work is in an enclosed space, or does not involve the risk of moving or falling objects, a bump cap should suffice.
Personalised Hard Hats and Bump Caps
Here at My Printed Clothing, we can print your company logo on to hard hats and bump caps. Just upload your design during the checkout process, and we’ll do the rest, confirming that the finished product looks the way you want it before we print.
If you have any questions about our PPE, our printing process, or any of our other products, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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