Safety Topic of Today: The Dangers Of Silica

Surge in new cases of lung disease silicosis among stonemasons | 7.30

Video Credit: ABC News (Australia) On YouTube

Hello Everyone!

Guess who is back to share with you another safety topic? That’s right-your favorite New York female construction worker. 🙂 We’ve landed on another Wednesday that puts us right smack in the middle of another work week, my friend. Let’s make the best of it and finish getting through the week by tackling each day and each task as it pops up as a priority. For this safety topic choice, I want to review the dangers of silica. Before I go off the deep end of the knowledge pool with this topic, I want to share some updates on my various projects. As I stated in my last post, I’m re-releasing it under the name “$ugar Momma Baddie” in my online e-store through Spring and Shopify. I have two designs to choose from: 1) Feisty Lady Trio 2) Sugar Momma Bed. Check out the revised designs in this blog post down below. So far, I still have the old slogans on the Shopify and Spring e-commerce platforms. I still need to craft the storefronts with the changed logos very soon. My last goal was to work on the revisions over the weekend. However, I fell short with honoring that goal. Therefore, I shall work on it during my down time during the week. I shall offer the “$ugar Momma Baddie” store links for the updated logos on the merchandise when I finally get around to making the revisions. The audio book version for, “Not All Girls Play With Dolls” is now available on Audible in audio form as well as hard cover, paperback, e-pub, and on iTunes. The audio book went live back on October 10th within the French, Dutch, U.K., and U.S. markets on Audible. The links for each market can be found further down in this blog post. It’s time to get into the purpose of this safety blog post. I opted to work on investigating the dangers of silica.

You may ask what is silica? Why do I even have to be concerned about it? Silica is a hard, unreactive, colorless compound which occurs as the mineral quartz and as a principal constituent of sandstone and other rocks. Silica is known chemically as the dioxide of silicon SiO2 that’s occurring in crystalline, amorphous, and impure forms: quartz, opal, and sand respectively. Quartz is the most abundant form of crystalline silica. Lesser common forms would be cristobalite and tridymite. Silica is a chemical compound that has been formed from both oxygen and silicon atoms. This chemical compound appears in two forms; hazardous crystalline, or non-hazardous amorphous. It is crystalline silica that causes all the trouble for workers around the globe. Breathing in dust from silica-containing materials can lead to a health condition that’s known as ‘silicosis’. Silica dust particles become trapped within the lung tissue that causes inflammation and scarring. The particles also reduce the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen which is absolutely essential to maintain life. Silicosis is a health condition that develops over time after constant exposure over 10-years or more. However, the disease can occur much more quickly after heavy exposures. Silicosis results in permanent lung damage and is a progressive, debilitating, and sometimes fatal disease. Sadly, there is no cure for silicosis and it could even be required to get a lung transplant. Workers who have been exposed to silica and those who have silicosis are also at increased risk of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a contagious and potentially life-threatening infection. Other diseases that morph as a result of silica exposure include: lung cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), kidney disease, or an autoimmune disorder. How do you even know if you have silicosis? Symptoms of silicosis may include the following:

Cough
Fatigue
Shortness of breath
Chest pain

Your next question should be where can silica be found? Who are the people that are most exposed to silica? Silica is an abundantly natural material that can be found in various locations on Earth. Crystalline silica can be stumbled upon within: rock, stone, soil, clay, gravel, and sand. This natural compound can also discovered in concrete, brick, mortar, and other construction materials. Quartz is the most common form where crystalline silica is derived from. Quartz dust is known as, ‘respirable crystalline silica’. This means it can be taken into the body by merely breathing it in. Silica is present within building and landscaping materials such as: roof slate, bricks, tiles, concrete, glass, ceramics, and plastic composites. Silica is a pesky, lingering visitor during many common construction tasks such as: excavating, mining, quarrying, and tunneling. Miners often work to orchestrate an explosion of high-silica-content rock while in the midst of burrowing into the dark depths of the Earth. Once it becomes airborne, it wafts through the ventilation system where miners all take their breathes while burrowing and blasting underground. Masons are also within another industry that is exposed to high quantities of silica while handling cement and the dust that is laden with silica once the cement powder is disturbed. Masonry tasks, such as scabbling or concrete cutting, work to introduce silica into the workers lungs via the air. Silica dust is super fine and can easily be picked up once it becomes airborne. Silica is 100 times smaller than a grain of sand. Because of how small the particles are, say approximately 5 micrometers in diameter, the tiny micro grains are transported into the lungs. Once silica is transported to the lungs, it works to permanently scar and damage the lung tissue. In addition to miners and masons, here is a list of the other industries where exposure is possible:

engineers (ex: oil and gas engineers)
farmers
workers breaking, crushing, grinding or milling material containing silica dust
sand blasting or casting
paving, surfacing or cement finishing
bricklaying
demolition work
road construction
stone masonery
mineral ore-treating processes
manufacturer workers: of glass, ceramics, brick, concrete, tile, metals, or machinery

Within the United States, approximately 2.2 million workers were exposed to silica dust in the workplace. In China, is the top nation since it jumps up to 23 million workers who are impacted by silica exposure. India is the country that’s in second place with 10 million workers who inherited health problems from the workplace. It is estimated that over 500 construction workers are believed to die from exposure to silica dust every year here in the United States. What exactly happens to the lungs other than inhaling these tiny particles? Once the very fine silica dust nanoparticles are breathed in, they go deep into the lung where it is attacked by the immune system. This activation of the immune system causes swelling and a hardening of the lung tissue- known as fibrosis. Fibrosis causes the lung tissue to become permanently scarred and it can no longer be able to function properly. Depending on the duration and exposure levels, the process can happen quickly within a few years or slowly over a 10-20 year period of time. According to OSHA.gov, refer to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1153 (d)(2)(v) that offers guidance on the exact limits of exposure and maximum time of exposure to crystalline silica. This OSHA section applies to all occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica in construction work, except where employee exposure will remain below 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air (25 μg/m3) as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) under any foreseeable conditions. Meanwhile, the mandatory limit for silica dust exposure in Australia is 0.05mg/m3. It’s reported to be as low as 0.025 in some states of Canada. An independent occupational hygienist is recommended to be tasked with monitoring the air particulates if exposure if a business is believed to expose employees to more than what’s normally allowed. Silica testing equipment needs to meet OSHA ID-142; NMAM 7500 analytical method qualifications. Nowadays, small personal air monitors are available on the market to protect the average worker. Be sure to do your homework prior to making that purchase.

Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_hazard_controls

Now that we know what silica is and how it impacts the body, let’s look at the industry standard to control exposure. Industry professionals use what is known as the ‘hierarchy of risk control’. These are a series of controls that range from low to high reliability. The control measure with the highest rate of reliability would be to totally eliminate the hazard. If you remove the material with silica in it, you remove the hazard completely. Yes, I’m aware that this magic pill of elimination is not always available on the jobsite. If elimination is not remotely possible, the next control measure to attempt to substitute a lesser hazard than what is currently in place. The third layer would be engineer controls. This means that team will engineer a control system in an effort to reduce the exposure of silica. The fourth layer of control would be in the form of administrative controls. This includes offering signs and instructions for workers in an effort to provide data and reduce the worker’s level of exposure. The fifth and lowest reliability comes in the form of personal protective equipment. The employer offers the employee a series of protective equipment to arm the worker in an effort to limit exposure. Workers receive face masks and gloves to be used during their shift in an effort to lessen exposure to silica. If you are a worker on the jobsite, it is wise to save this hierarchy of risk control to serve as a guide if you are experiencing high levels of silica exposure. No one is going to be your advocate quite like your own self. Therefore, you need to do the homework in an effort to arm yourself with the right tools so that you can enjoy your senior years. Sadly, before I got into the role of management, I didn’t do much research on the effects of environmental hazards. I walked into work essentially blind since getting the job done was on the front burner. As a widowed mother, I was more worried about staying on the jobsite as long as possible so that I could put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. If your focus is the same, then you get where I’m coming from during my worker bee years with the tools. Try to learn at least one new thing per week that could aid in your longevity on this planet. Over time, it will cause you to be slowly become more aware of your surroundings.

By this point in this blog post, we have learned much more about silica. I do have some basic knowledge on the topic, via forced silica awareness courses that I had to take. I’m posing this next question. How do we drill even deeper into this topic? Let’s look into exactly what air monitors can be used on the jobsite. If you are on the jobsite and the employer is not willing to monitor the contaminants in the air, how do you arm yourself in a cost effective way? So far, we have learned that when an independent air monitor contractor comes in, they are looking to gather and record the contaminants during an 8-hour period of time. If the report comes back with high levels of silica, then the hierarchy of risk controls need to be implemented. The air is then re-monitored at time intervals that are based upon the initial report findings. According to OSHA.gov (https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2019-03-21), the time intervals are at least every 3 months after the first air sample. These mandatory intervals shall continue until the tests yield lower than the (PEL) permissible exposure limits. It appears that the “Hanna Instruments HI 770 Checker HC Handheld Colorimeter, For Silica High Range” is an air monitor that retails on Amazon for $59.95 with favorable reviews (and some sarcastic ones). It claims to be plus or minus 5% accuracy. For water monitoring, a Tap Score water monitoring kit retails on their website for $55.00. You purchase a water test kit on their website at: https://mytapscore.com/ and they will send you all that is needed for collection. After collecting a water sample, you ship it to their lab, and they will be send a report of the test results. Apparently, wells can get contaminated with silica and under certain conditions, that also poses as a health hazard. A number of silicon compounds, such as silicon halogens, are corrosive and extremely toxic. Silicon tetra chloride is an eye irritant, and may also cause breathing problems and skin irritation. In drinking water only silicic acid is present, which is relatively safe. I’m truly thankful that ingesting silicon doesn’t cause stomach cancer or other health problems.

It took a little bit of digging in order to find the equipment used for air monitoring. I found a PowerPoint presentation from a Salt Lake City based testing lab called ALS Limited on YouTube. I shall provide the link down below in case you want to drill into more details than what I’m offering in this blog post. Air testing is done with different types of cyclones. Here are five different types of ISO 7708 compliant cyclones: 1) SKC GS-3 Cyclone 2.75 L/min 2) Dorr Oliver Cyclone 1.75 L/min 3) SKC Aluminum Cyclone 2.5-2.8 L/min 4) BGI GK 2.69 Cyclone 4.2 L/min 5) Higgens-Dewell 2.2 L/min. Testing has been going on and evolving for the last 40-years. According to the presentation, the cyclone favored to be used today SKC GS-3 Cyclone 2.75 L/min. The testing cyclone uses a combination of gravity and air flow to capture and separate the air contaminants. Once the air intake brings in the air, the heavier particles drop to the bottom toward the grid pot. The lighter particles rise up toward the PVC filter cassette. Once the monitor is done with the sample, the PVC filter gets removed from the test machine. The filter within the PVC filter cassette is what gets sent to a lab for further analysis. It’s important to keep the cyclone in a vertical plane for the entire time. Depending on your objective, there are both disposable and reusable filters available for air sampling. The costs of these filters vary as per the unit used ($80+). The battery life on these cyclones air monitors will last for approximately 12-hours. Even if the test results don’t yield much silica, they encourage the testing of respirable dust since that still presents as a health hazard for workers. Whatever lab you choose, just make sure that they provide crystalline silica analysis by NIOS method 7500 and OSHA ID 142 using x-ray diffraction. Additionally, ensure that they are accredited by the (AIHA) American Industrial Hygiene Association as per OSHA Appendix A 29CFR 1910.1053 guidelines. I had a discussion on silica with my fellow site safety managers today. We all started out in construction with working with the tools in a variety of capacities. One thing that is the general consensus- we didn’t worry about our health as young workers. We are all aware of the risks taken and the fact that we may or may not encounter health problems, within the next 10-15 years, as a result our lack of concern for future health problems. We spoke about having no desire to wear the extra PPE since it serves as both a burden and a distraction while working. If you are a young construction worker, hopefully you will think about this discussion more than we did. We are not going to live forever and avoid the almighty ‘dirt nap’. However, you can at least try to minimize the health problems that will come at an advanced age.

Thanks for stopping by to review my “Leslie Talk” on the topic of the dangers of silica in the work place. This concludes when I have researched on the subject matter. I believe that I learned the most on this topic while on my research journey. If this content has sparked any questions, by all means let me know down in the comment section below. This blog post will either offer some useful information or. Feel free to share this blog post with your fellow construction buddy. I’m game to offer more bathroom reading material at the very least. 😛 I’m always open to safety topic suggestions so don’t be shy and share them. Don’t forget to follow me at leslie_m_jasper on Tik Tok or Verbally Disastrous on YouTube. Share your feedback on my content down in the comment section at the bottom of the blog post. If you appreciate listening to podcasts, I encourage you to review my last (8) podcast episodes that are listed down below from The Verbally Disastrous Podcast, via links for Spotify & YouTube down below. If you are into reading on a Kindle, check out my newest short story release that belongs to my Construction Tales-Told By A Woman Kindle Vella Library short story series on Amazon down below. My last short story #11 is entitled, “Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools”. This short story covers my life as a widowed, single mother in the era when I juggled both motherhood and my career as a journeywoman electrician. The previous short story is #10 is entitled, “Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice”. If anyone has read any of my other previous short stories, let me know your thoughts? Feel free to go ahead and check out the many links for my book #ConstructionTales down below. Now, it’s time to head back to what you were working on before so that you may wrap up your Wednesday work/school/home tasks so you can knock out another day in this week. As I have said many times before, my hat goes off to you if you are hitting that second job and/or night shift! I totally respect the hustle! Try your best to go home in the same condition that you came in earlier. I wish you a great morning/afternoon/evening on your side of the globe and a restful or productive day!

ALS Limited Silica Testing Webinar On YouTube:

Video Credit: ALS Limited On YouTube

“$ugar Momma Baddie” Sugar Momma Bed Logo:

“$ugar Momma Baddie” Fiesty Lady Trio Logo:

Photo Credit: Safety First Training Academy Logo

Audio Credit: Not All Girls Play With Dolls-Now On Audible!!

Not All Girls Play With Dolls- Within The U.S. Market:

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0BHX7L5GQ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-325164&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_325164_rh_us

Not All Girls Play With Dolls- Within The U.K. Market:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0BHX8WQ1C/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-325164&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_325164_rh_uk

Not All Girls Play With Dolls- Within The France Market:

https://www.audible.fr/pd/B0BHX86KS9/?source_code=FRAORWS022318903B-BK-ACX0-325164&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_325164_rh_fr

Not All Girls Play With Dolls- Within The Dutch Market:

https://www.audible.de/pd/B0BHX8BX6Q/?source_code=EKAORWS0223189009-BK-ACX0-325164&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_325164_rh_de

Link To Construction Tales: Volume I: A Woman’s Journey To Become An Electrician (Paperback & Kindle) On Amazon:

Link To Construction Tales: A Young Person’s Guide To Accomplish Anything In Life (Paperback & Kindle) On Amazon:

U.S.A.: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible:

https://www.audible.com/pd/B07P5PNCS7/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_us

United Kingdom: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07P5PP7RW/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_uk

France, Belgium, Switzerland: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible:

https://www.audible.fr/pd/B07P7RYP4G/?source_code=FRAORWS022318903B-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_fr

Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible:

https://www.audible.de/pd/B07P8W3MVY/?source_code=EKAORWS0223189009-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_de

VERBALLY DISASTROUS PODCAST EPISODE LINKS:

Here is the link to the Verbally Disastrous Podcast on Spotify:

Verbally Disastrous-On Spotify

Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #43: Part A- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #44: Part B- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #45: Part C- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous! Season #2, Episode #46:Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice On YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous Podcast! S#2, Ep. #47: Part A- Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous Podcast! S#2, Ep. #48: Part B- Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous Podcast- S#2, Episode #49: Just Released Not All Girls Play With Dolls!! on YouTube:

Verbally Disastrous Podcast- S#2, Episode #50: My First 7 Weeks As A Site Safety Manager on YouTube:

I shared my latest short story that has been loaded up to my Construction Tales-Told By A Woman Kindle Vella Library on Amazon. This is short story #11 entitled, “Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools”. This short story covers my life as a widowed, single mother in the era when I juggled both motherhood and my career as a journeywoman electrician. I share the various challenges I faced and lessons learned along the way. The previous short story is entitled: #10: “Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice”. I decided to write about some life lessons such as guarding your personal information, managing nasty rumors, combating sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism. Overall, the construction culture has improved dramatically over the past 25-years. Developing both a thick skin and a sharp tongue are key tools needed to survive various jobsite antics. I hope you learn something from this short story. There are more to come. These short stories are now also available as Verbally Disastrous podcast episodes.

Construction Tales- Told By A Woman: (11) Kindle Vella Short Stories On Amazon!!

The Verbally Disastrous Store On Tee-Spring:

https://my-store-c1f946.creator-spring.com

Cheers!
Leslie M. Jasper

-Author And Host of the #VerballyDisastrous podcast now alive on many platforms that include: Acast, Amazon Music, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, I Heart Radio, Listen Notes, Overcast, Pandora Podcasts, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Pod Bean, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Podcast Gang, Radio Public, Reason, Soundcloud, Soundtrap, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In, and YouTube.

-The Audio Blog: Verbally Disastrous Podcast And Construction Tales Blog. Now available on: Acast, Amazon Music, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, I Heart Radio, Listen Notes, Overcast, Pandora Podcasts, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Pod Bean, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Podcast Gang, Radio Public, Reason, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and Tune In.

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Safety Topic Of Today: The History Of The Hard Hat

Photo Credit: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-hard-hat-180974238/

Hello Everyone!

I’m honored to share with you yet another safety topic from my jobsite. As a site safety manager, I’m basically an adult babysitter. I work with my team to protect people from harming themselves via not taking steps to protect themselves. I always tell the workers that I want to see them go home in the exact same condition as they came in this morning. We’ve made it again to where we are wrapping up another work week, my friend. For this safety topic choice, I want to review the history of wearing hard hats on North American jobsites within the last 100-years. Before I make a splash with this topic, I want to share some updates on my various projects. As I stated in my last post, I’m re-releasing it under the name “Sugar Momma Baddie” in my online e-store through Spring and Shopify. I have two designs to choose from: 1) Feisty Lady Trio 2) Sugar Momma Bed. Check out the revised designs in this blog post down below. So far, I still have the old slogans on the Shopify and Spring e-commerce platforms. I still need to craft the storefronts with the changed logos very soon. The latest goal is to work on the revisions over the weekend. I shall offer the “$ugar Momma Baddie” store links for the updated logos on the merchandise when I finally get around to making the revisions. The audio book version for, “Not All Girls Play With Dolls” is now available on Audible in audio form as well as hard cover, paperback, epub, and on iTunes. The audio book went live back on October 10th within the French, Dutch, U.K., and U.S. markets on Audible. The links for each market can be found further down in this blog post.

It’s time to get into the purpose of this safety blog post. I opted to work on investigating the history of the hard hat. Each year, it is estimated that 6 million hard hats are sold in the United States. The very first head protection was released in 1889 in the form of a leather miner’s hat. Just like the first steel toe shoe, the military was the birthing place where head protection evolved into a hardened structure. The U.S. Navy commissioned E.D. Bullard Co. with the task of creating a protective hat that resembles the WWI “brodie” or “doughboy” helmet. Shipbuilders used to cover their hats with tar to harden them and create a layer of protection. Wearing a military helmet saved many soldiers from flying shrapnel and debris along with a hail of rapid fire ammunition. A young lieutenant, who served in the U.S. Army’s cavalry, first saw the effectiveness of the military helmet for soldiers during his time while serving in World War I. He was looking to use his war time knowledge so that he may design an even better hard hat. By 1919, Edward W. Bullard returned home to the family business, known as E.D. Bullard Co., in San Francisco and opted to develop a hard hat for civilians. Today, the main headquarters for E.D. Bullard Co. is in Cynthiana, Kentucky. E.D. Bullard Co. is now one of the leading manufacturers of personal protective equipment on a global scale. The family business was founded by the inventor’s father Edward D. Bullard back in 1898. This family business started out as a manufacturer who created carbide lamps and other equipment for miners in California, Nevada, and Arizona. After returning from the war, Edward Jr. began developing ideas for affordable safety headgear that would effectively work to protect the miners. This new means of personal protective equipment was first known as the “hard boiled hat”. This head protection was made out of heavy, duck canvas and leather and it was coated with shellac. This civilian hard hat version needed to be smaller and lighter than the military version due to miners working in small underground locations. One hat was made of Bakelite which was an early form of plastic. The early hard boiled hats were rather heavy and made out of steel.

Edward Jr. had crafted and patented 13 different designs for his hard hat creations that were designed for different industry applications. The second hard hat patent in 1928 was the introduction of inner suspension within the hard hat that was actually awarded by 1930. Hard hats were not required to be worn until the creation of Hoover Dam, formerly known as Boulder Dam, back in 1931. Later on, the chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge required workers to wear hard hats during the erection of the bridge by 1933. The engineer was highly concerned over falling rivets that would serve as a hazard for workers during the bridge erection process. By 1938, the hard hats of that era were engineered to be lighter in weight since they were then made out of aluminum. The downside is that these hard hats are a natural conductor of electricity. By the 1940’s, fiberglass hard hats were introduced to the market in an effort to combat high heat issues. The first thermoplastic hard hat was released by 1952. The hard hat composition began transitioning to polyethylene material by the 1960’s. The MSA-V Guard design, released in 1962, is still in use today. By 1982, E.D. Bullard Co. introduced yet again a redesigned helmet that incorporated a non-slip, ratchet suspension with a knob in the back for adjusting the snugness around the worker’s dome. All safety helmets have been made out of plastic ever since the early 2000’s. The more modern plastic hard hat became known as the “3000 R”. The 3000 R was produced from polyethylene plastic. This latest round of technology produced a hard hat that is lightweight, durable, easy to mold, and non-conductive to electricity. This polyethylene plastic hard hat was even treated with an ultra-violet inhibitor. This extra safety feature helped the hats weather the outdoor work environment. A modern helmet today is sold at a price range between $15 to $20 dollars each. Once released to be purchased, the original “Bullard Hard Boiled Hat” was listed for less than $3. When adjusted for modern inflation, the very first hard hat cost roughly $45.

E.D. Bullard Co. took on field feedback in an effort to re-design the hard hat even further. They went to work and designed the vented hard hat, known as the S62, that allows for air flow inside the hard hat while still offering the best protection. These hard hat designs must comply with OSHA regulations that also require the use of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) compliant head protection (ANSI Z89.1-2014). The OSHA rule (29 C.F.R. 1926.100) states that employers must provide head protection equipment that meets or exceeds the industry consensus standard ANSI Z89.1. I have never worn the hard hat with the ventilation feature. However, I have seen some guys on my project have that air flow vent feature on their hard hats. From what it sounds like, via field feedback and online reviews, the ventilation feature does provide a noticeable difference in the summer. There is a general color code that indicate job roles out on the jobsite. Yellow is used for general laborers and contractors. White (or sometimes black) indicates supervisors and managers. Inspectors and new workers wear green hard hats and visitors are often given blue ones. Despite having a set industry standard color code in existence, it doesn’t mean contractors follow it at all. After the majority of my experiences, most managers indeed wear white hard hats. However, contractors will often choose a hard hat color that goes with the company brand color(s). For example, I’ve worn a blue hard hat some projects as an electrician. However, I’ve also worn a red EJ Electric hard hat since their brand was predominantly red and Verde Electric since green was the predominant brand color. There are two types of hard hats along with three classes of head protection. Additionally, there are three types of adjustments for hard hats. ANSI Type I hard hat works to protect against blows to the top of the head and meets vertical impact and penetration requirements. The ANSI Type II hard hat works to protect against blows to the top and side of the head and meet both vertical and lateral impact and penetration requirements. Type I hard hats are predominantly used within the United States while Type II are predominantly used in Canada. Here are the three classes of hard hats along with their main function in regards to protecting the worker from momentary brushes with electricity:

Class E (electrical) provides protection to withstand 20,000 volts
Class G (general) provides protection to withstand 2,200 volts
Class C (conductive) does not provide protection from electricity

The standard type and class of hard hat that’s used on the average jobsite is the Class C hard hat for workers who are not exposed to electricity. However, the average electrician here in the United States would be wearing a Type I, Class E hard hat. It’s also suggested for the hard hat to be blue in color. Hard hats come in a wide variety of styles with the intention of providing protection within different work environments. However, the two most popular are the “Cap” and “Full Brim” style. The cap style has a front brim with a rolled edge that’s intended to allow water to drain off the bill. The full brim style is a wider brimmed hat that gives eye protection from sunlight and even rain while working outdoors. As with any product on the market, they come with a wide variety of accessories. These accessories are intended to provide comfort and ease with various applications: light visors, face shields, ear muffs, mirrors, liners, chin straps, cameras, pagers, radios, neck shade protection, and lights. There are three different types adjustments on the hard hat that include: ratchet, pin lock, and one touch. Obviously, the worker must visually check the hard hat for damage and take it out of service immediately if it is damaged in any way. The recommended life span of a hard hat is five years. I’ve worn a bandana under my hard hat for many years to protect my forehead. It works to protect my forehead from pimples that can surface along the suspension strap that connects the hard hat to my forehead. I’ve used those soft liners that snap onto the suspension strap. However, they get dirty and laden with sweat very easily. I’d rather stick with my pink or blue “do-rag” instead. On the project that I’m currently on, the workers for the general contractor all wear the safety helmets in lieu of a traditional hard hat. They have the ability to accept the various accessories such as a face shield, ear protection, and the chin strap. The crew literally look like they are wearing a fancy bicycle helmet. Despite looking ridiculous, it does makes sense to have the chin strap in order to keep the hard hat on the worker during stressful moments. I’ve never been a fan of wearing a hard hat since it works very well to trap the heat on your head to within the hard hat. Additionally, every day is a bad hair day after wearing a hard hat. When you work on high rise projects, you have to tether your hard hat to your clothing. In the event the hard hat falls off and drops from a high elevation, it can injure a passerby who is walking on the ground level. I wear a tether on my hard hat since I’m walking around on a 20-story scaffold within an occupied residential complex. I cannot imagine the long-lasting mental anguish of hurting or even killing an innocent bystander with my personal protective equipment.

Thanks for stopping by to review my “Leslie Talk” on the topic of hard hats. This concludes when I have researched on the subject matter. If this content has sparked any questions, by all means let me know down in the comment section below. My goal is to share some new and useful information with you so that you may be a more informed citizen. Feel free to share this blog post with your fellow construction buddy. I’m game to offer more bathroom reading material at the very least. 😛 I’m always open to safety topic suggestions so don’t be shy and share them. Don’t forget to follow me at leslie_m_jasper on Tik Tok or Verbally Disastrous on YouTube. Share your feedback on my content down in the comment section at the bottom of the blog post. If you appreciate listening to podcasts, I encourage you to review my last (8) podcast episodes that are listed down below from The Verbally Disastrous Podcast, via links for Spotify & YouTube down below. If you are into reading on a Kindle, check out my newest short story release that belongs to my Construction Tales-Told By A Woman Kindle Vella Library short story series on Amazon down below. My last short story #11 is entitled, “Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools”. This short story covers my life as a widowed, single mother in the era when I juggled both motherhood and my career as a journeywoman electrician. The previous short story is #10 is entitled, “Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice”. If anyone has read any of my other previous short stories, let me know your thoughts? Feel free to go ahead and check out the many links for my book #ConstructionTales down below. Now, it’s time to head back to what you were working on before so that you may wrap up your Friday work/school/home tasks so you can get ready for another amazing weekend. As I have said many times, my hat goes off to you if you are hitting that second job and/or night shift! Try your best to go home in the same condition that you came in earlier. I wish you a great morning/afternoon/evening on your side of the globe and a restful or productive day!