low_hydrogen
Commonly Asked Questions
Q. Can decals be put on hard hats?
A. In most cases, yes. There is an extremely low risk for a chemical reaction between the hard hat shell and the pressure-sensitive sticker/decal adhesive. Under normal conditions, stickers and decals won’t negatively affect the performance of the hard hat.
Generally, these two rules of thumb should be followed:
The decals should be placed at least three-fourths of an inch away from the edge of the hard hat. This eliminates the risk of the decal acting as a conductor between the inside and outside of the helmet.
In order to easily inspect the hard hat for damages, the areas of the hard hat covered by stickers/decals should be kept to a minimum.
Q. Is it safe to paint a hard hat?
A. ANSI Z89.1-2003 Appendix A4 states, when painting hard hat shells, caution should be used because some paints and thinners may damage or degrade the shell decreasing the level of protection. Before painting, consult the hard hat manufacturer.
Q. Can hard hats be worn backward?
A. Generally, no. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a standard interpretation and compliance letter dated July 22, 1992 that states:
"Because ANSI only tests and certifies hard hats to be worn with the bill foreword, hard hats worn with the bill to the rear would not be considered reliable protection and would not meet the requirement of 29 CFR 1926.100 (a) and (b) unless the hard hat manufacturer certifies that this practice meets the ANSI requirements."
Before wearing your hard hat backward, you should obtain written verification and directions from the manufacturer on whether or not your hard hat model has been tested and found to be compliant with safety standards when worn backward.
Sources for More Information
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.135,
Occupational Head Protection Standard
Stickers can impair your ability to visually inspect the hard hat. (EDIT: whoops, wacco already pointed that out) Our plant uses white hard hats to identify the management, red hats for the maintenance, and grey for the general population.....and we have really special hard hats for the visitors....LOL
We require the hard hat while welding.....but I believe we are the only fabricator within 100 miles that still uses hard hats in the fab shop. How the others get their Insurance company to go along with that is beyond me. I have heard of government jobsites where the hard hats get inspected for the dates. Our OTR truck driver has found that out the hard way on a current job we have going on right now.
low_hydrogen,
While Wacco and John have pretty much hit the nail on the head I will add just a bit more. I have been at places that enforce the rules you are speaking of. The thing with stickers is that some (usually older or novelty type) have different adhesives that can in fact deteriorate the hard hat. Most stickers that are made for the purpose of being applied to a hard hat will not effect it. But as mentioned, one can not properly inspect the hard hat with an abundance of stickers applied.
Paint markers and paint will adversely affect them as well.
They do have a manufacture date in them that one should check when buying a new one (I have seen them brand new on the shelf with a date 5 years out). I thought that it was a 5 year period but it has been awhile and it may vary depending on the company safety manual.
Also realize that sunlight will make them brittle over time.
Another one I remember was if your hard hat fell from a distance greater than 10 feet it was to be taken out of service. I immediately remembered my oil field days and throwing my hard hat at worms farther away than that and also throwing it out of the derrick at an a**hole driller twice. I guess they were junk after that. :-)
I collect hard hats and stickers and I put them on the ones in my collection, but for actual use I keep the stickers to a bare minimum if any at all.
jrw159
Forum
