NC State to Study Jobsite Shift From Hard Hats to Type II Helmets

About 200 construction workers die from traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. each year, and a new pilot program backed by the Job-Site Safety Institute aims to address that toll by charting a path from Type I hard hats to Type II safety helmets on active jobsites.

North Carolina State University will run the study, with Forest Hill, Maryland-based Comer Construction participating as the contractor partner, per a release shared with Construction Dive. The program, funded by a grant to N.C. State from the nonprofit Job-Site Safety Institute, will evaluate the practical considerations, effectiveness and feasibility of implementing Type II helmets on live jobsites.

The goal is to understand how the industry can pivot away from traditional hard hats toward head protection that stakeholders say works better.

What the helmets do differently

Type II helmets come with a chin strap and protect workers from falls or struck-by incidents contacting the top or sides of the head. Type I helmets have no strap and protect only the top of the head. Research from Virginia Tech has indicated Type II helmets can better protect workers from severe injury.

The N.C. State grant extends earlier JSI-funded research on construction personal protective equipment, said Alex Albert, associate professor in the university's department of civil, construction and environmental engineering. That earlier study examined construction workers' awareness of differences between PPE headwear.

"The finding was that workers were largely not aware of the distinction between Type I and Type II safety helmets," Albert said.

In that research, Albert found workers supported switching to Type II once they understood it could keep more parts of their brain safe. Their remaining concern: cost.

Companies and workers can usually buy traditional hard hats from a local hardware store for about $15, said Erik Anderson, vice president of Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based residential renovation firm Anderson Moore Kitchen & Bath. Type II helmets often cost over $100, he said.

Susie Comer, president of Comer Construction, acknowledged the higher cost but called the tradeoff worthwhile.

"That was a hit," Comer said, but after weighing the safety benefits, the switch was "almost a no-brainer."

The organization behind the grant

JSI was founded in 2014 by leadership from Raleigh, North Carolina-based Builders Mutual Insurance. The initiative grew out of a desire to ensure companies had every tool necessary to keep workers safe, said Jodi Vedelli, chief strategy officer at Builders Mutual.

"People are still getting injured on jobsites," Vedelli told Construction Dive. "There was this feeling of, 'What more can we do?'"

Since its founding, JSI has awarded $1.13 million in research and education grants to partners addressing safety challenges across the construction industry.

Vedelli said the nonprofit's goal is to reach smaller firms with fewer resources for safety practices. Anderson, who also serves as board chair of JSI, noted that safety equipment use has varied between industry sectors over time — and that the divide persists.

"In the commercial world, the hard hats have been accepted," Anderson said. "I wish it were that way in residential."

Albert said the partnership aims to close that gap by producing evidence other firms can follow.

"We hope to create an authentic industry example of what it takes to move from hard hats to Type II safety helmets," he said.