There are a variety of different types of head protection available. Hard hats, bumps hats, hairnets, bouffants, safety glasses, and earplugs. Most people use the terms hairnets for bouffants and hairnets interchangably, but there are indeed different products. A hairnet is a nylon mesh covering for one’s hair to prevent hair from entering a product (often food). Bouffants are also mesh coverings, but they are less permeable and also less expensive than hairnets. Bouffants are used in clean room environments, medical environments, and manufacturing and foodservice industries. Whereas, hairnets are also used in manufacturing environments and foodservice industry, they are mostly used in foodservice industry. While very similarly looking -they differ in cost.
As for hardhats and bump hats, many people also use those terms interchangeably, but they too are different products. Bump hat refers to head protection from lighter objects. For certain types of manufacturing environments such as light manufacturing they are acceptable. However, for most heavy manufacturing environments, they are not acceptable and hard hats must be used. Each of these products have unique specifications and ratings, so it is best to check with your safety professional or OSHA as to what specific hat your need for your task at hand.
Similar to hard hats, safety glasses come in all shapes and sizes. Most manufacturing environments require some type of eye protection. However, each environment and task might require unique specifications. All safety glasses in an industrial setting should be ANSI rates Z87 at a minimum. This rating is known as the ball drop. A steel ball with 1” diameter weighing 2.4oz is dropped 50” above the glasses and the frame, glasses, and lens must all remain intact after impact. Apart from ANSI rated safety glasses, there are prescription glasses (often not disposable), high precision safety glasses (often not disposable), safety goggles. Most safety glasses on the market today offer a degree of anti-fog protection, but each type of safety glasses is marketed toward safety, anti-fog, prescription, style/fashion, or simply low price. Our current product offering with regard to safety glasses represents most common option in the market, but we can custom manufacture and design safety glasses to your liking.
Earplugs and Earmuffs, like safety glasses come in a huge amount of styles and ratings. If an employer’s work environment has a sound rating of over 85db in an 8hr period. OSHA requires employers to have a hearing conservation program in-place. Part of the hearing conservation program is correct hearing protection. It is wise to discuss with safety professional what decibel reduction you are looking to achieve for your facility. Earplugs, earmuffs are both good options. While most employees prefer the comfort of corded earplugs for their ease of use -they often do not provide the same protection as earmuffs. Earmuffs on the other hand, are often not changed as frequently as earplugs, and are not as comfortable for most employees. Many earplugs and earmuffs have different db ratings so it is wise to do some research first to make sure the ear protection is the best for the task at hand.
