Dean Kermicle, Director of Risk Management

United Forming, Inc.

Recently our company made the decision to fully make the transition from traditional hard hats to Type II Safety Helmets in 2025. Several things factored into this decision. First, is the increased level of protection that safety helmets provide to our employees. Second, is our involvement with the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) and their hard hats to helmets initiative. My participation in the ASCC Safety & Risk Management Council provided me with so much valuable information on the topic that I could bring back to further educate our organization. And finally, we are seeing more and more General Contractors that we are working for that are making safety helmets mandatory for all trades on their projects. Three (3) of our 5 regional area operating units had already made the transition, so it seemed like the logical time to take it companywide.

Obviously there is a little more cost involved with safety helmets than with traditional hard hats that any financially responsible company has to budget for. Therefore, rather than stipulate a specific date for the total transition, we have mandated that safety helmets will be required on all new projects that start up in 2025. This approach will allow is the budget the costs as a line item into each new project. Currently we have decided on two different types of safety helmets to use in this transition. These include the PIP Traverse, and Milwaukee Bolt front brim safety helmets. Both models provide ventilation to address heat concerns and offer a variety of add-on attachments.

If your company is considering making the transition to safety helmets or if you would just like additional information, please visit the Hard Hats To Helmets (H2H) website at www.hardhatstohelmets.org.