" man had fallen and had a head injury..."

The improper use of hard hats in our industry is prevalent. Why? Well, many workers wear them loose and they can be easily dislodge exposing their skull to injury. Here is a recent incident highlighting the importance of hard hats,

A man was injured at an aluminium smelter plant in the USA early one morning during the week of October 10, 2019, according to local police.

Local police and fire were called to the plant about 4:30 a.m. for a man who had fallen and had a head injury. No other details of the injury were provided.

The aluminium smelter provided the following statement: “We can confirm that an employee was taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries resulting from a work-related incident. Our thoughts are with our colleague and his family, and we offer them our support during this difficult time.”

We pray that the injured worker recovers fully from his injuries. We acknowledge that the news articles provides little information. So, how can the reader use this post or any post on the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog? Well, for this incident see if your workers are wearing the hard hats properly. How to check? Ask your workers to touch their toes, if the hard hat falls off then they are wearing it too loose.

Think that is silly? We posted a story where a worker tripped down three (3) steps. His hard hat dislodge and his skull made contact with a fixed object. The worker succumbed to his injuries a few days later. Yes, three steps. On every visit we talk about that incident reminding workers of the importance of wearing hard hats. The Aluminium Times magazine had an article on this topic. It can be downloaded here.

Please comment.