Head lice from a hardhat

[Peter Van Wiebe]

Good day fellow safety people, at our facility we have the same system for visitors as many other companies. Hard hats are required and we keep some available for these visitors. In all my years I have never had an issue but have heard many different excuses for not wearing one. We use a typical hard hat (North Brand) with the typical suspension system. Yesterday a weekly visitor told me that she caught head lice from one of our hard hats. I am having trouble with this one. Has anyone else experianced this?


Peter V in Calgary

[Owen]

In my 20 years dealing with trades (construction and industry) I have never seen or heard of a case like that. Although most of the time, even visitors to sites had their own hardhats. You could look at using a hair net with the hats or implement a disinfection program after use.

[seanchalmers]

Hello

I have never heard of lice transfer in hard hats but I agree with the disinfection program that was suggested, another option is if they are regulars to your site you could even supply then with a hard hat of their own to use

[Sarah Webster]

Hi Peter

The Canadian Padediatric Society's report about "Head Lice Infestations: A Clinical Update" recommends that items such as hard hats should be either washed in hot water(66°C), dried in a hot dryer for 15 min or stored in an occlusive plastic bag for two weeks to kill lice and nits.

For more information, check out the report at
http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/ID/id08-06.htm