Safety Helmets Are Replacing Hard Hats on Construction Sites

For 40-plus years the design of construction hard hats hasn’t changed much—a brimmed shell attached to a suspended, adjustable headband.

But that’s changing as designs, first used in mountain climbing and other sports helmets, are adapted for construction workers.

The introduction of the helmets—don’t call them hard hats—is driven by the belief that helmets provide better side impact protection than traditional hard hats and won’t tumble away if a worker falls, company safety officials told Bloomberg BNA.

“If you’re working on a ladder and fall, your head snaps backwards, your hard hat falls off,” Jason Timmerman, safety director for Skanska ...