One of the key elements when working at height is having the correct tools and Personal Protection Equipment to do our job. The Health & Safety Executive guidelines states that your employer has a legal obligation to supply you with correct Personal Protection Equipment.

No side impact protection..

It has come to my attention that for many years on the tools I have been wearing the incorrect type of hard hat for working at height tasks. While on a working at height course which I sat recently the tutor informed the class that the V-Guard hard hat which most scaffolders are supplied with offers no side impact protection when working aloft.

The company that provided the course are also a very big firm for on-shore and offshore access work. The tutor then went on to tell us that all of their scaffolders wear the Petzl climbing helmet or the W@H V-guard as these offer all round protection to the head. With me knowing scaffolders who work for this firm I realised this was not the case. The guys I know are wearing the peak less V-guard hard hat suitable only for ground or deck operations. Although they did mention that for a while they did adopt the Petzl climbing helmet but it was ruled out due to preference.

The Question Is..

If we as scaffolders continue to wear the wrong type of hard hat are we covered by the company insurance policy?  Because we are in breach of this HSE guideline (use the correct tools and PPE for the task you are undertaking).

We would like to hear from our readers what your take is on this. Do you wear climbing helmets? Does your company supply you with the correct PPE and do you think we all should wear the correct Hard Hat. Because at the end of the day we only have one head!

By Lloyd McKenzie.