My contact and company info is below.
I have been in various companies for either contract work or full-time employment. The only company (out of 10) I have been associated with that has maintained it's use of hard hats was Chicago Bridge & Iron (large outdoor/indoor construction). The other companies (including Westinghouse where I am currently) have dropped the in-house hard hat policy and we are a large fabrication company of nuclear components (indoors). Our field service work divisions use hard hats for field erection and installation.
In my experience the real benefit of hard hat use is construction or any situation where employees work "above" other employees. The key usage of hard hats is to protect the head from dropped bolts, tools, weld rods, etc. Dropped large equipment won't care about a hard hat. So it is not so much large fabrication work but proximity, height and location of workers to small/moderate sized dropped objects. For example, I do not see the practical use of a hard hat in a machine shop.
Also, If not needed, safety hats can be a productivity loser to facilities who have employees not used to them - especially in higher temp climates.
They do have their use and should be used when needed. However, in my opinion, most industries do not need them.
C. Wes Cross
Weld Engineer
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
Newington Operations
178 Shattuck Way
Newington, NH 03801
Phone: +1 (603) 433-1088
Cell: +1 (603) 339-9075
Fax: +1 (603) 433-1060
Email: crosscw@westinghouse.com
Home Page: www.westinghousenuclear.com
-----Original Message-----
From: materials-welding@googlegroups.com [mailto:materials-welding@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Armstrong, Joel
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 10:05 AM
To: materials-welding@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MW:2691] Safety Question
All,
I work for LeTourneau Technologies and we build some of the world's largest front end loaders and jack-up drilling rigs. Obviously, we're a heavy fabrication facility.
Our Safety department has been asked to investigate the need of wearing hard hats in all manufacturing areas. This would include assembly, machining, heat treat, cutting, as well as welding.
Our GM of Fabrication and Assembly has asked me to get a survey of other companies' policies on the wearing of hard hats.
So, if you could respond and let me know the following.
1. Does your company require manufacturing personnel to wear hard hats?
2. What type of industry are you in
a. Heavy Fabrication
b. Sheet Metal / Automotive
c. Construction
d. Wholesale Trade
e. Cutting
f. Other (Please specify)
3. Does your manufacturing/operations primarily take place... indoors or outdoors.
4. What is the name of your company.
5. What country is your facility located?
Also, if you have recently changed companies or know for sure the policies of a facility other than your current location, feel free to answer the survey from that point of view as well.
Thanks,
Joel Armstrong, CWI
Welding Engineer
LeTourneau Technologies
Member AWS B1 Committee
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