Posted By John J Most of my chemical plant areas use hard hats but one plant is arguing for the use of bump caps. Is there any standard that says hard hats should be used? Is it the norm to wear hard hats in the chemical industry? Any guidance appreciated, John

Posted By garyh I worked for 20 years in the chemical industry, hard hats were the norm. There are different British standards for both types of hats. "Of course" hard hats like all PPE should come from risk assessment, hierarchy of control, be the last resort and so on. In other words, do a risk assessment, checking the risk re the protection offered in both cases. I would approach a safety equipment supplier and ask their friendly rep to advise for free on helmet standards applicable to your risks. Job done!

Posted By Larry Shannon I have has similar requests and its back to the BS standard hard hats- from falling objects other ( bump caps) from knocks and minor bangs) We looked at bump caps but there cloth make up and ventilation holes came up as issues in cGMP areas and production general areas. Purely logistics of one type of hat for all rather than bump in low risk and hard hat else where. ( we are Pharma site)

Posted By Konstanty Budkiewicz Hi JJ, I work in pharma eng environment, largely outside GMP areas. As previous repondants indicate, PPE should be based upon risk assessment rather than "standard approach". In brief I support the following heirachy as astarting point for risk assessment: Hard hats with peaks - within designated construction areas (risk of falling objects in particular). Hard hats without peaks - when working at height (need to look upwards and risk of falling objects etc) Bump caps - within assessed restricted space areas (minor burns, blows, cuts and grazes). No head protection - in unobstructed plant rooms and low risk areas(and in absence of overhead work) With regard to falling objects - method statements should identify the extent of the foreseeable fall zone as part of the job plan. We should not rely on PPE to protect us from poor planning and the absence of 100mm kick plates above work areas: these need to be addressed in their own right as a root cause of said falling objects. Kon CMIOSH

Posted By Merv Newman John, I doubt there will be any kind of official standard. "Best practice" is all there is. Your risk assessment will show plant areas which include a risk of a dropped or falling object striking someone. If you don't want to go 100% HH then those areas that do have the risk should be clearly indicated and the rule enforced. Bump caps are probably ok if there is no overhead risk. And you can get them without cloth covering. Kick-boards on scaffolding/platforms are always a good idea, but things still get dropped. Merv