A bitter lesson: Multiple fatal accidents point to the problem of Hard hats
The article summarizes several fatal accidents that occurred across the country in recent years due to expired hard hats or improper wearing. Behind each case is a broken family, which is extremely painful and thought-provoking.
Case 1: Expiry of hard hats, guide rope hits head, death
A tragic incident occurred at a forging company in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. During the operation of lifting steel bars, Gong， a sawing worker， was hit in the head by the guide rope of the electric hoist suddenly sliding along the steel wire rope without any warning. Although Gong was wearing a hard hats， as the hard hats had exceeded its usage validity period， the protective performance of the material had significantly deteriorated， and it was simply unable to withstand such a violent impact. Gong eventually died due to severe injuries. The investigation also found that the electrician did not install the guide rope replacement properly， with only 3 out of 4 fastening bolts being tightened， and the major loopholes in equipment maintenance and the problem of the expired safety helmet combined to cause this avoidable tragedy. This accident profoundly reveals a truth： any negligence in any aspect can become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
Case 2： No chin strap， reaction tank falls and kills
On the night of November 30， 2020， a high-altitude fall accident occurred at Changshu Baidefu Technology Co.， Ltd.， claiming the life of an operator. During the cleaning operation of the reaction tank， the operator failed to wear a hard hats correctly and， most importantly， did not fasten the chin strap properly， causing his body to lose balance when falling from the manhole to the bottom of the tank. The hard hats instantly fell off from his head， and his head was directly severely injured. He ultimately died despite rescue efforts. The investigation also revealed that if he had simply fastened the chin strap properly， this tragedy might not have occurred.
Case 3： Climbing scaffolding without chin strap， 8 meters high fall and death
On April 13， 2020， at a municipal engineering team in Changshu， while performing waterproofing work on the exterior wall， worker Zhou Xianzhong climbed the scaffolding without wearing a safety helmet or any safety belt. From about 8 meters high， he lost his footing and fell. During the fall， the safety helmet， like a loose lid， fell off， and the back of his head was violently struck against the ground. He died despite rescue efforts. The investigators pointed out with deep sorrow that if he had simply fastened the chin strap properly， this tragedy might not have occurred.
Case 4： Falling from moving scaffolding， hard hats falls and kills
An employee of a construction company in Mianyang， Sichuan Province， unfortunately fell during work using a single-row moving scaffolding. Due to not wearing a hard hats properly, the helmet fell off during the fall, causing the head to hit the ground directly and resulting in severe injuries. Eventually, the person died. The local emergency management bureau's investigation report was stern in its wording, clearly stating: If the employee had fastened the chin strap, this accident could have definitely not resulted in death. A small action determined the line between life and death.
Case 5: Without a hard hats, a steel bar pierced the head
A terrifying scene occurred on a construction site in Yongjia County, Zhejiang Province. A worker was pierced straight through the head by a steel bar that fell from the sky, approximately 3 meters long and thumb-sized. The fellow workers were in a state of panic, and the scene was covered in blood. Although the rescue team arrived promptly and cut off the exposed steel bar, the condition of the injured was extremely critical, with an uncertain outcome of life or death. This accident served as a cruel reminder to everyone: Don't wait until after the accident to regret not wearing that hard hats.
The article particularly emphasizes that in a large amount of data from grassroots accident investigations, multiple fatal accidents showed that although the victims "wore" hard hats, they still died from being struck by objects or hitting the ground on their heads. After in-depth analysis, it was found that the fundamental reason was astonishingly consistent: the chin strap was not fastened properly. To visually demonstrate this difference, the article cited a set of experimental video frames: when the head of the simulated person was without a hard hats, the watermelon directly burst; when wearing a hard hats but not fastening the chin strap, the watermelon along with the helmet flew out and broke into pieces; while when wearing it correctly and fastening the chin strap, the watermelon remained intact under the violent impact. The contrast of these three frames is more powerful than a thousand words.