Evaluation of the Shock Absorption Performance of Construction Helmets Under Repeated Top Impacts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Pan, Christopher S. ; Wimer BM ; Wu, John Z.
• Description:
  It is accepted in industries that an industrial helmet should be disposed of when it is subjected to a significant impact. There is no scientific evidence that supports this well-accepted belief. The current study was intended to evaluate the shock absorption performance of industrial helmets under repeated impacts. Common industrial or construction helmets are categorized as Type I according to ANSI Z89.1 and they are designed to mainly protect top impacts. A representative basic Type I construction helmet model was selected in the study. Helmets were repeatedly impacted ten times using a commercial drop tower tester with an impactor (mass 3.6?kg) at different drop heights from 0.30 to 2.03?m. A total of 80 impact trials were performed in the study. The relationships of the 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 Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Construction Helmet Construction Construction Workers Endurance Tests Experiment Force Head Injuries Models Protective Clothing Protective Equipment Repeated Impacts Shock Absorption Top Strike

  More +
• ISSN:
  1350-6307
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  330-339
• Volume:
  96
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053453
• Citation:
  Eng Fail Anal 2019 Feb; 96:330-339
• Contact Point Address:
  Christopher S. Pan, NIOSH, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Engineering Failure Analysis
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6d3fd028dd632cebeaf9b3803199e55d5c0a4c7e506c97b6457ab065431eac2e96c6a2b24a003401166633db5a560cc47ac7391f0b04732b59086b7d2826c5e5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216204/cdc_216204_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.97 MB ]