Employee hard hat use Cancel The title field is required!

1. Michael Buxton

   

   0 posts
   
   3/30/2013 10:03 AM

   Any one have any information on hard hat requirements while working on a golf course? New policy was implemented here that all employees must wear hard hats while working on the golf course during all activities. This includes management staff and visitors. I am having a meeting next week to discuss implementation of policy. Just wondering what others have same policy?

   
   
   
   
2. Jeffrey Whitmire

   

   0 posts
   
   3/30/2013 10:03 AM

   Do players have to wear one as well?

   
   
   
   
3. James Schmid

   

   1 posts
   
   3/30/2013 11:03 AM

   This comes up every now and then and nobody ever really has a clear answer.
   
   Heres my question: Has anyone ever had an employee get struck in the hardhat with a ball that otherwise would have hit their head? Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Is there any evidence to support the need for hardhats on the golf course?
   
   I mean we can all sit here and speculate that of course if someone is wearing a hardhat and they get hit in the hardhat it would prevent damage , but is there even a single real world example where a hardhat has prevented injury to a golf maintenance employee?

   
   
   
   
4. Keith Pegg

   

   0 posts
   
   3/30/2013 5:03 PM

   Yes, and No you will get OSHA and local and never get a clear answer. I just set a company policy and all staff keep hard hat on if they leave the shop, flat! 3 warnings and I am sorry they would be gone. never lost an employee yet for this. They can take them off if inside the closed cab of a tractor or truck open the door and it has to be on.
   
   Keith
   Zama Japan

   
   
   
   
5. Hardy Andrew

   
   3/30/2013 7:03 PM

   We have a strict company hard hat rule in place. I would rather not test whether a golf ball to the head is possible or if it will do any damage. Though a hassle for the staff early in the year. They become quite accustomed to them within a week. Over the top? Maybe. Better safe than sorry? You bet!!
   
   If you ever doubt head protection google a Superintendent by the name of Brian Youell. his story will change your thought process.

   
   
   
   
6. Paul Hallock

   

   6 posts
   
   3/31/2013 10:03 AM

   We have a hard hat policy that we enforce also. You leave the shop gate in the morning the hard hard is to be worn at all times. If you are driving a cart with a canopy/roof, the hard hat is not required while driving. That is how they got around the rule for the beverage cart, rangers, managers etc....... who are also out in harms way. Funny thing is, we are loaded with rattlesnakes, scorpions etc......... that also could cause injury, but I do not have a PPE rule for those instances? I wonder if getting hit on the top of the head with a ball or getting bit or stung by vermin, which odds are greater? Also another interesting point, the helmets we have approved are not hard helmets at all, they are the pith style that are barely impact resistant...........Go figure? By the way, I myself have taken a head shot, got hit in the jaw/side of the face from a drive. Spent half a day at the hospital getting x-rays, but besides the temporary golf ball tattoo on my cheek, had no broken bones. Helmet would have been useless in my case........................

   
   
   
   
7. Jon Gansen

   

   1 posts
   
   4/2/2013 8:04 AM

   The top of the head is my least of my concerns. Eye sockets, temple, back of head and neck. We had gone to hard hats once. At that time it put a target on the workers because the pass holders saw the hat and figured they were protected and hit. Since then we have educated more so the workers are treated more like a golfer in the line of fire. We need to educate the workers and the golfer to be more observant of the surroundings while working and playing. I realize the danger just think the hard hat leaves a person with false sense of security... I understand why alot of you enforce hard hats but found for us it didnt. Saying that what type of hard hats are the norm to use?
   After thinking more about it and doing a little research I found this article. http://www.clubsafetysolutions.com/publications/Errant%20Golf%20balls.htm

   
   
   
   
8. Border Ricky H

   
   4/2/2013 10:04 AM

   Worked at a private club some years ago and the hard hats were implemented to decrease some insurance costs. We did as we needed staff did not like them. The funny part is we had a old rough guy who would chop up 2, 3, or more hard hats a day he would say they fell off when a tree branch knocked them off his head, then the toro spartans would do their work on them. It lasted about a month then back to no helmets.
   Rick Border
   Oglebay Resort
   Wheeling, WV

   
   
   
   
9. Keith Pegg

   

   0 posts
   
   4/2/2013 4:04 PM

   Ricky Border said: Worked at a private club some years ago and the hard hats were implemented to decrease some insurance costs. We did as we needed staff did not like them. The funny part is we had a old rough guy who would chop up 2, 3, or more hard hats a day he would say they fell off when a tree branch knocked them off his head, then the toro spartans would do their work on them. It lasted about a month then back to no helmets.
   Rick Border
   Oglebay Resort
   Wheeling, WV

   
   He would have been gone ater 3 days! What an AH.
   
   Keith

   
   
   
   
10. David Brandenburg

    

    3 posts
    
    4/2/2013 7:04 PM

    We have hard hats available for each employee and they must be worn when trimming or prunning trees even not over our heads. I enforce that rule.
    
    If I had to wear a hard hat on a everyday basis i would soon look for a new job. I hate hats of any kind and I would not get used to it in a couple days.
    
    It just comes down to it, they really do not make being on the golf course any safer.

    
    
    
    
11. Ronald Conard

    

    4 posts
    
    4/2/2013 9:04 PM

    Here's a shot of the guys getting ready for another day.
    
    
    [attachment=0">bubble-wrap.jpg[/attachment">
    
    
    We really think it is the next step in the evolution of safety, just for the sake of being safety.

    
    
    
    
12. Andrew Cross

    

    5 posts
    
    4/4/2013 10:04 PM

    At a previous course they implemented a hard hat policy, this came after a worker was struck just above the eye. He was wearing a hat (baseball cap) when it happened and the ball went under the brim, so a hard hat would not have helped in that case either.
    
    It was a blind shot so neither the golfer nor the employee knew the other was there. Some things just can't be prevented, unless we all wear hockey helmets with cage face masks.
    
    Also in OSHA required hart hat areas all persons in the area are required to wear hard hats right, so this would mean golfers too correct?

    
    
    
    
13. Ronald Conard

    

    4 posts
    
    4/5/2013 9:04 AM

    Andrew Cross said:
    
    Also in OSHA required hart hat areas all persons in the area are required to wear hard hats right, so this would mean golfers too correct?

    
    
    I believe that is an issue. In addition what is the liability if you know of a hazardous situation, protect your employees, and yet allow your customers to enter a hazardous environment and they get pinged in the noggin?

    
    
    
    
14. Paul Hallock

    

    6 posts
    
    4/5/2013 10:04 AM

    I think when you cut to the chase, this whole hard hat policy/issue is more from an employer standpoint than from an OSHA standpoint.

    
    
    
    
15. James Schmid

    

    1 posts
    
    4/8/2013 7:04 AM

    Andrew Cross said: At a previous course they implemented a hard hat policy, this came after a worker was struck just above the eye. He was wearing a hat (baseball cap) when it happened and the ball went under the brim, so a hard hat would not have helped in that case either.
    
    It was a blind shot so neither the golfer nor the employee knew the other was there. Some things just can't be prevented, unless we all wear hockey helmets with cage face masks.
    
    Also in OSHA required hart hat areas all persons in the area are required to wear hard hats right, so this would mean golfers too correct?

    
    
    No. OSHA is only concerned with workplace safety as it relates to employees. You could still be sued by golfers, but OSHA would not be involved in this.