Safety helmets are never a trivial matter

In high-risk frontline work environments such as construction and mining, safety helmets are the last crucial line of defense for workers' lives. However, in recent years, quality problems with safety helmets have frequently occurred. In 2019, a video of unsafe safety helmets circulating online sparked widespread concern. The video showed ordinary safety helmets easily breaking upon impact, revealing a large influx of substandard products into the market. Driven by profit, unscrupulous merchants use recycled materials to reduce costs, a practice that seriously threatens workers' lives.

Online platforms are equally chaotic. Some merchants sell safety helmets for prices ranging from a couple of yuan to tens of yuan. These cheaper products cannot pass inspections, yet merchants claim they can provide certificates of conformity for other compliant products to deceive consumers. Some merchants even openly sell safety helmet certificates online.

In the production process, some companies use recycled materials to make safety helmets to reduce costs. For example, at Linyi Kaituo Plastic Products Factory, safety helmets in their warehouse deformed easily under light pressure, and the company's person in charge admitted to using recycled materials in production. Some companies play word games, labeling products with little or no fiberglass content as "fiberglass type," misleading consumers. In reality, these products fail to meet relevant standards and offer extremely poor protection.

These substandard safety helmets pose a significant danger. When safety helmets are used beyond their lifespan, the outer shell material ages and cracks, drastically reducing impact resistance, puncture resistance, lateral rigidity, electrical insulation, and flame retardancy, rendering them ineffective in providing adequate protection for workers. Safety helmets made from recycled materials begin to degrade in performance during remanufacturing, failing to protect workers' heads.

To eliminate, resist, and combat the existence of substandard safety helmets in the market, manufacturers, users, and regulators need to work together, leveraging their respective strengths and fulfilling their responsibilities to eliminate the breeding ground for counterfeit and substandard safety helmets, thereby ensuring the head protection of helmet users.

A qualified safety helmet adheres to strict standards in structural design, raw material selection, production processes, and accessory details. In terms of structural design, industrial safety helmets are designed to protect against impacts and punctures from heavy falls. The shape, curvature, and thickness of the shell are precisely calculated, and a unique liner design is indispensable. The liner floats inside the helmet, and a scientifically designed space between the top strap and the shell is maintained to effectively distribute stress, ensuring both protective performance and overall lightweight design.

Raw materials are one of the core factors determining the quality of a safety helmet. High-quality safety helmets must be made from 100% virgin materials. Some unscrupulous manufacturers use recycled materials to produce helmets with extremely poor impact and puncture resistance, essentially planting a "time bomb" for workers.

The production process is equally crucial. Reputable manufacturers, with a responsible attitude towards life, use high-quality production molds to ensure the finished product closely matches design requirements, translating theoretical protection data into actual protective effects. They also utilize professional moisture testing equipment to strictly control the moisture content of the plastic material, ensuring stable mechanical properties of the shell.

The "V"-shaped design of the safety helmet  not only increases the shell's strength but also provides a unique airflow guiding effect. When working outdoors in rain or snow, the "V"-shaped structure allows rainwater to quickly slide off, preventing water accumulation on the top of the helmet, reducing the burden on the head, and preventing rainwater from flowing into the neck, thus improving worker comfort in inclement weather. This design also optimizes airflow, allowing for better air circulation inside the helmet, keeping the head cool and dry even during extended wear, reducing stuffiness, and improving work efficiency.

Raw materials and manufacturing processes play a decisive role in the quality of safety helmets. We consistently use high-quality virgin materials to make our safety helmets, employing an ergonomic design concept that ensures a close and comfortable fit to the head. The headband knob also features an ultra-smooth adjustment function, providing a comfortable and effortless adjustment experience, and it fits snugly against the back of the head, effectively preventing the helmet from falling off during work, providing workers with a stable and reliable wearing experience.

From the perspective of core protective performance, impact resistance is a crucial indicator of a safety helmet. According to GB 2811—2019 "Head Protection - Safety Helmets," when a 5 kg steel hammer is dropped from a height of 1 m onto a safety helmet, the impact force transmitted to the headform must be ≤4900 N. A buffer space of at least 50 mm must be maintained between the helmet shell and the liner to effectively disperse the impact force.

Puncture resistance is equally important. When a 3 kg steel cone is dropped from a height of 1 m, a qualified safety helmet should ensure that the steel cone does not contact the headform, and the testing environment should cover a wide temperature range from -10 ℃ to 50 ℃.

Besides the safety helmet manufacturer's responsibility to produce reliable safety helmets, the selection by the user is also crucial. Professional selection and procurement are essential for purchasing reliable and suitable safety helmets.

When purchasing safety helmets, employers should: 1) identify the risks of the work environment and select helmets with appropriate protective functions; 2) prioritize well-known brands with good user reputations among numerous helmet manufacturers; 3) carefully control the supply channels to ensure that the purchased helmets are directly supplied by the manufacturer or provided by authorized distributors/distributors, controlling quality from the source; and 4) each helmet user should examine the helmet to understand relevant information. For example, the permanent markings on the inside of the brim include the standard number, injection date, material description, protective functions, and brand logo; the inside of the helmet shell usually also has a product certificate of conformity, indicating the manufacturer's information and wearing precautions. Employers should carefully check whether the certificate of conformity matches the information on the helmet. Some manufacturers also provide traceability tags that can be scanned to prevent purchasing counterfeit products.

A small safety helmet is related to the life safety of workers and often connects to a family, even affecting the happiness of three generations. We hope that all relevant parties will work together to prioritize the quality of safety helmets, leaving no room for counterfeit or substandard helmets to hide or survive, so that workers can choose and wear qualified safety helmets, protect their lives, work with peace of mind, and live happily.