I am aware this has probably been asked before, but looking for some advice on the wearing of hoodies on construction sites, in particular use when hardhats are worn.

The obvious risk associated with hoodies is the snagging issue as it is a loose piece of material, often with drawstrings as well. Then there is the reduced visibility and movement.

Once you include the wearing of a hardhat, would this increase the problems as the hardhat manufacturers probably don't test with hoodies worn, so does this go against guidelines.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Given the raft of under helmet garments commercially available for cold/wet weather working the hard hat itslef would not be compromised providing it is being worn in line with maufacturer fitting instruction.

Why are hoodies being worn if the employer is providing suitable workwear?

I do not see snagging as limited to hoodies - poorly sized/selected Hi-Vis and particularly vests with gaping arm holes are often much worse for catching on door handles and scaffold poles

Working on site, we would often get people wearing beanies under their hardhats, which our site rules prohibited. However in most cases these beanies were thin material (not thick, fleecy lined ones), and as was often pointed out by the disgruntled wearer, there was often no real difference between what they were wearing and "proper" hard hat liners in terms of how they affected the fit of the hard hat. 

Whilst we had to enforce the rules, i could certainly appreciate where they were coming from and "Sorry mate, those are the rules, don't shoot the messenger" was our usual go to line in those situations.

The hoodies though we were 100% against. Not necessarily because of the hardhat fit issue, but becuase of the negative effect on the wearer's peripheral vision. Something which is often not considered.

Edited by user 28 May 2019 12:40:30(UTC)  | Reason: Spelling and punctuation

Going back to the OP Steve, I think Stern got it right. The peripheral vision point is extremely valid. I mean, would you allow safety glasses which had 'blinkered' sides which obscured view? Of course not, unless the wearer had specific sight issues which required them and you would need to RA that. Hoodie hoods don't always turn when the wearer turns their head, thus obscuring even more view. I think they present a significant risk.

With the number of excellent and quite stylish liners now available, I can't see any reason for wearing a hoodie, though of course, you must provide them if they are needed for exposure to cold or such. 

But for impact resistance we do insist on the use of safety googles - many of which do blinker the wearer - relying on the face stand off to achieve the neceassry impact rating and not having clear optical sides.

Many thanks for all the replies.

Definately gives me food for thought.

Looks like the Bots have breached Captcha.

This should be fun to watch!

Double whammy - commercial advertising on the iosh site AND a breach of the T&C's of the site being hyperlinked (no links without permission)