Shock Absorption Performance of Construction Helmets Under Repeated Top Impacts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Pan, Christopher S. ; Wimer BM ; Wu, John Z.
• Description:
  The use of helmets is considered as one of the important prevention strategies in construction to reduce the work-related traumatic brain injury risk. It is accepted in industries that an industrial helmet should be disposed of when it is subjected to a significant impact. However, there is no stringent experimental evidence that indicates that the shock performance of an industrial helmet will deteriorate in repeated impacts. The current study was intended to evaluate the shock absorption performance of industrial helmets under repeated impacts. Repeated impact tests were performed using a commercial drop tower tester with an impactor (mass 3.6 kg) at eight different drop heights from 0.30 to 2.03 m. At each of the eight drop heights, the helmets were repeatedly impacted ten times. The relationships of the peak transmitted force with the drop height and with impact number were analyzed. A new parameter -- the endurance limit -- was proposed to evaluate the shock absorption performance of a helmet. The helmets were observed to experience cumulative structural damage with increasing impact number, resulting in a degrading shock absorption performance, when being impacted repeatedly with magnitudes greater than the endurance limit. Repeated impacts with magnitudes smaller than the endurance limit did not cause measurable cumulative structural damage to the helmets in our study. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Environmental Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Preventive Medicine Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Construction Helmet Brain Damage Construction Endurance Tests Exposure Levels Force Head Injuries Head Protective Equipment Impact Force Injuries Preventive Measures Protective Equipment Repeat Impacts Risk Factors Top Impact Tests Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

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• ISBN:
  9781938496578
• Publisher:
  International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  144-147
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057842
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the XXXIst Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference, June 12-13, 2019, New Orleans, Louisiana. Amsterdam: International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES), 2019 Jun; :144-147
• Contact Point Address:
  John Z Wu, National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Email:
  jwu@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the XXXIst Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference, June 12-13, 2019, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2c3773cd5c224b97f247137238472ab5dd82afa5a35b4e5ad9740f90bcf87da5472bd752aa25843e031552f2dcfce65be032ba94fede1cbdddb33212fabc4051
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215052/cdc_215052_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 956.19 KB ]