Brain injury charity Headway has partnered with safety manufacturer Centurion in an effort to educate those in the construction industry around concussion and brain injuries.
Hard Hat Awareness Week runs from June 14th – 20th and is designed to make sure those in the building sector are following the best practices to avoid any potential head injuries.
As well as this both groups are using the event to help people spot the signs of concussion for both themselves and their coworkers through a series of educational media pieces.
Like Griggs, deputy chief executive at Headway, said campaigns like this are vital to showing people the serious nature of a head injury.
“We have been running our concussion awareness campaign for a while now,” he said. “But that has been primarily focused on the world of sport.
“With this what we are trying to do is to raise awareness and make people realise that concussion and head injuries are not just confined to sport.
“It can happen to anyone at any time, so we are gradually opening up the concussion awareness campaign to other facets.”
Ultimately the week is being used to remind workers of the importance of wearing a hard hat on site.
When operating heavy machinery and materials a blow to the head can have some life changing consequences, which is why Headway are pushing this message.
“It is absolutely crucial that we make people aware of the signs and symptoms,” Luke said. “People also need to be aware of the consequences, not only for themselves but for others around them.
“Construction sites are intrinsically risky places, despite the fact that the industry itself has improved so much in terms of its health and safety on site, head injuries still remain.
“We need to educate people on the importance of prevention, to make sure that they don’t see a hard hat as just something they’re forced to wear because you just never know when it might save your life.”
The charity has also pointed out the need for a societal shift in this industry, saying because it is a masculine sector people can often attempt to ignore a concussion.
Furthermore a lot of construction workers are either self-employed or contracted, meaning a lot of them can’t afford to miss a day’s work and won’t do so because of a headache.
“There’s still a degree of a kind of ‘macho’ culture in the construction industries,” Luke said. “Even though this is beginning to change it still has that element of not taking a minor head injury seriously.
“For many construction workers if they miss a day’s work they’re not necessarily going to be paid for it, they’re not going to be backed up by sick pay or any kind of protection in that respect.
“That is causing a serious concern and it is half the challenge here.”
Headway and Centurion ran the first Hard Hat Awareness Week back in September 2020, which came off the back of a survey run by the charity around construction site safety.
This produced some concerning results, saying 86 per cent of workers had suffered a blow to the head but only 52 per cent reported it.
More worryingly only 6 per cent sought medical attention, while a further 79 per cent didn’t take any time off after their injury.
“The survey backed up what our fears were,” Luke said. “It’s vital to rest and to not overdo it because otherwise you’re going to exacerbate injury, taking even more time to recover.
“The difficulty and some of the attitudinal issues we found with that survey were the reasons why people aren’t aren’t doing it, some of which we can challenge others that are proving to be more difficult.
“So there’s real work to be done now with the construction industry and we have tried to reach out to all the major construction players in this area, to actually help to educate people around concussion.”
Centurion are one of the biggest personal protection equipment companies in the UK and they are helping lead the way with this initiative.
One thing both organisations are also pushing throughout the week is the importance of properly mating hard hats and what role this can play in a person’s safety.
As important as it is to make sure people are wearing this safety equipment, if it is not properly looked after then the risk of injury increases.
Workers can still comply with regulations by wearing a hard hat, but if there is any defect in it then they are not sufficiently protected.
Through adverts on industry radio, educational posters and by working with the big companies in the industry Headway are hoping to minimise the short and long term effects of a head injury.
“It’s important to take this ‘if in doubt, sit it out’ approach, which is in everyone’s interest, including the individuals and their long term health, which could be affected if they don’t take it seriously.
“Every year Headway supports new people whose lives have been devastated by brain injury and the most tragic ones are always the ones which could have been prevented.”
