Canadian Occupational Safety

18 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com By Stefan Dubowski W e all know how important head pro- tection is in many workplaces. But some people working in construction, industrial operations and other fields where hard hats are required say head protection is a pain — literally. "I get a headache every time I put one on," says one commenter on a web message board for drywallers. "Got 'em always with me but hardly use 'em." Some workers who suffer from hard hat-induced headaches may take extra steps to ensure the hat isn't too tight or take painkillers to ease the pain. But for others, the cure is to remove the headgear, and that is a terrifying thought for many health and safety professionals who work in industries where removing hard hats could put employees at a signifi cant risk. The fi rst step in helping employees deal with headaches is to determine which of the dozens of headache types an employee is experiencing. "People need to learn what type of headaches they have before they start looking for treatment," says Brent Lucas, executive director of Help for Head- aches, a London, Ont.-based non-profi t. Some wearers might contend with problems related to tightness if they suffer from compression headaches, which occur when these individu- als don any sort of headgear that fi ts snugly, including hard hats. Compression isn't the only poten- tial pain generator. A rare condition called allodynia is the diffi culty for some individuals. Sufferers experi- ence pain from what would normally be non-painful stimulation of the skin, such as a light touch. For these people, wearing a hard hat could be unbearably painful, says Lucas. Since allodynia usually follows a migraine, sufferers are advised to treat the migraine primarily, as a way to snuff out the allodynia before it takes hold. For his part, Lucas used to get chronic cluster headaches, which gen- erally occur on one side of the head at about the same time every day. He found them debilitating. "They got worse every day. I couldn't go to school. I couldn't eat. I couldn't do anything. My life was crazy." Lucas went to the Michigan Head- ache and Neurological Institute (MHNI) for help. The in-patient intravenous medication he received there worked . This inspired him to start a headache support group, which evolved into Help for Headaches. Keep tHe LiD on, or eLSe Whatever the solution might be for hard hat headache sufferers, remov- ing hard hats in situations where protection is an absolute must — on a construction site, for example — is not an option. Kari Harris, London, Ont.- based vice-president of occupational health and safety at EllisDon says hard hats are mandatory for all site work- ers, including superintendents, fi eld engineers, safety co-ordinators and subcontractors. But sometimes employees wonder if the hard hat requirements are really all that important. "Workers have to associate it with a risk," Harris says. "If they feel that the risk is minimal or the requirements are optional, that's when it becomes more subjective for them — if they'll wear it or not." While she has heard "all sorts of excuses," Harris has not encountered workers complaining about headaches due to hard hats. The company reinforces the impor- tance of hard hats in many ways, including during training, daily hazard assessments and safe-work plans. Signage is also "a big one" with the different types of personal protec- tive equipment being clearly identifi ed in certain areas, says Harris. EllisDon employees also learn about the consequences of failing to wear hard hats. "We have a progressive warning system depending on the severity of the infraction," Harris says, describing the "verbal, written and gone" arrangement. A worker would receive a verbal warning for the fi rst infraction, a ticket for his second infraction and a third infraction usually results in a suspension and then termination of employment. She has seen government inspec- tors issue fi nes to workers for failing to comply with hard hat regulations. When asked if that puts too much of the responsibility on the individual employee rather than the employer, she says worker-focused fi nes help employ- ees take charge of their own safety. "While the employer can emphasize safety measures, there's a huge onus on workers to ensure they're also taking the necessary steps to protect themselves. Everybody has a part." Kevin Wolff is the Edmonton-based district health and safety manager at PCL Construction. Like Harris, he has yet to hear complaints that hard hats cause headaches — and he notes that employees generally accept the need for hard hats. He says it's important for people to wear the right type of hard hat for their work. For instance, since many hard hats have peaks at the front, some- times workers are inclined to turn their hats around so the peak is at the back, for better upward visibility. But a backwards hard hat won't fi t prop- erly, which means it won't protect as effectively. "It has to be designed for that pur- pose," Wolff says. A reversible hard hat is the solution. get upDAteD HeADgeAr Wolff adds that modern hard hats are lighter and more comfortable to wear than previous iterations. "They've come a long way with the materials they use — defi nitely with side-impact hard hats. They're still heavier than standard hard hats because they're thicker, but they're HARD HATS AND HEADACHES: A REAL PAIN? New technology is making hard hats more comfortable for workers, especially those who are headache-prone

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