As a builder I always hated to have to wear a hard hat.
Being the boss it was pretty rare that I would actually wear one.
Employees were a different story and for the most part they are a pretty good idea---hard hats that is. Employees I can do without. They are especially important when you have workers on different levels were someone might drop a hammer on your head etc . A hammer falling on your head from 10 or 20 feet would never be a good thing regardless---but at least you might not die. This is one of those examples of where there can be consequences worse than death.
On a recent inspection I found a great example of why hard hats are a great idea.
The ceilings of concrete structures are sometimes insulated with giant rolls of plastic covered fiberglass insulation. These batts of insulation are held in place with spikes that are glued to the ceiling. The insulation is pushed into place through the spikes and then retaining rings are slid over the spikes. This is an "effective" and efficient way to do it and makes for an attractive appearance when done. I would argue that it should be insulated with some material other than fiberglass---almost ANYTHING other than fiberglass---but that is not what this post is about.
This post is about the reasons for hard-hats.
If you haven't gotten the point yet, without a hard hat you might.
You see these sharp points should be snipped off to prevent anyone climbing a step ladder (to work on other components on the ceiling) from running one of the spikes through their skull.
Sorry for the wince there---but these points are dangerous and should be properly removed.
And that is the point.
Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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