Who wears a hat these days except golfers and rappers? Well there’s one bunch of workers who wouldn’t dare leave home without theirs: construction workers.
Their yellow titfers aren’t fashion statements but essential pieces of safety equipment and they aren’t allowed to set foot on a building site without them.
s1jobs is where you can find all of the latest construction vacancies and the chances are, even if your chosen role is an office job such as site manager, there will be a hard hat on your desk for those times you have to see for yourself how work is progressing.
Hard hats have always been worn to protect heads, especially in the event something falls or swings in from the side. But they’re also effective at keeping a roofer’s noggin cool when the sun shines and a brickie’s curls dry when the rain falls.
But did you know there are plans to make this basic bit of kit even better?
Say hello to the smart hat bristling with hi-tech add-ons and extras.
Already being used on building sites in Washington DC, these bunnets have been fitted with trackers that allow employers to find workers wherever they are.
But there’s more to these upgrades than simply identifying who’s doing what where (and not doing what where).
Sensors have been developed that can monitor fatigue levels and these have the potential to be life-savers.
The idea comes from Australia where a company has developed the technology to measure brain activity through a band set into each hat.
Already one rail contractor has been trying out the hats in Wales and is set to trial them in Scotland too.
Some ideas are simpler, but no less effective, including cordless lights that clip to the hat to assist with visibility in dark places and on days when light levels are low – such as Scottish winters.
These have been available for some time but it’s only now designers have managed to do-away with the battery pack that went with them.
Then there are the sci-fi solutions set to transform work in the future, such as the augmented reality hard hat.
How much easier would it be to get the job done if, when a plumber looked at a section of wall, all the pipework that lies behind it was superimposed on their visor?
That’s just one of the many benefits the technology developed by the computer gaming industry could bring to building sites.
So get your game now on with all the latest construction vacancies on s1jobs.