Your Hard Hat Stickers Guide.
Workplaces contain a lot of small, encoded information that those in the know take for granted. It doesn't matter if you work as a mechanic, a doctor, or a professor there's an expectation of both the people and the workplace to adhere to patterns of behavior. Dress codes and safety matter more as the danger increases but communicating and mitigating those dangers is always needed.
When it comes to construction and industrial areas, there's only so much space for signage to control and identify danger zones and personnel. That's where hard hat stickers come in. Expand your communication space by making the already mobile personnel their own signage.
A workplace is a controlled environment for good reasons. Still, allowing a bit of self-expression goes a long way to boosting morale and creating team dynamics. These are functions that can also be aided with some custom hard hat apparel.
Interested in learning more about the ins and outs of hard had stickers? Read on.
Why Hard Hat Stickers?
You'll find hard hats on many job sites that have even an inkling of danger. They are one of the first outward signs to visitors and passerby's that work gets done. While they're easy to spot and easy to understand the purpose of they lack a certain fine detail.
Color coding for hard hats hasn't ever been a thing. Yellow is the most common but they come in a bunch of colors. The only rules are that they be functional and that it be easy to tell if they are in working condition.
Black and darker colored hats don't tend to show up often because they obscure damage, especially abrasions. Even in workplaces like mines, it's better to have a brighter, more reflective surface.
Visibility is key and that visibility can be built on with a splash of additional color and extra information. Adding stickers to a hard hat provides a job site and workers with a useful platform to accomplish a variety of different tasks.
This can be done to enhance the importance of the worker wearing the hat. It can also be done to offer additional information about the role of the worker. It never fails to inspire a sense of patriotism to add American flag hard hat stickers.
Stickers don't need to be strictly functional, either. Without being distracting, hard hat stickers can add personality and fun to a job as well.
Importance to Employees
Nobody likes to feel like a faceless cog in the machine. One of the problems with having a standard uniform for any job is that it leaves the worker feeling undervalued and personalized.
Obviously, safety equipment needs to be standardized to do its' job effectively and to be replaced when worn or damaged without causing disruption.
Workers that feel important and an individual have a better outlook on their job and their ability to seek promotion and have their work valued on an individual level. At the same time, individuals that see themselves as members of a unit perform better than those that don't.
Allowing a level of customization through something like badass hard had stickers gives a sense of belonging to those that share the same stickers. It also creates an opportunity for rewards and acknowledgment from management.
Personalization of gear through unique stickers makes it easy for workers to locate at start of shift. If individual gear lockers or taking the times home is not permissible, individualized gear can really speed up shift starts.
People are also more likely to take ownership and responsibility for objects they have an attachment to. Workers have a better sense of themselves and their surroundings when they imbue items with sentimentality. This isn't unlike how many a person has a lucky shirt, coin, or other objects that they can sense when it isn't near them.
Practical Purposes
On a more practical level for your workforce, hard hat safety stickers make quick for quick visual cues.
It's cheaper to purchase and apply custom hard hat stickers displaying a company logo than to get customized hard hats. If you have different teams with different roles, supervisors can locate and identify who is and isn't in their area quickly with team and role stickers.
Awarding stickers for excellence in performance, attendance, or other call-outs provides motivation and increases team unity.
Applying stickers to individuals with specific training in tools or safety protocols can make it easy to navigate situations where hearing is difficult.
For something like security, specialized stickers can offer a solid indicator if an inspector or someone from the outside has snuck on a job site. A plain or otherwise out of the ordinary hard hat becomes instantly identifiable.
Long-form stickers can provide a space for workers to list important information that could be used to help them if they become unconscious or incapacitated. Information such as known allergies, a name, and a blood type are possible to list. For an area where maks need to be worn and facial recognition is difficult, this provides an easy way to find information quickly.
With reflective materials and metallic inks, hard hat stickers are easier to see in poor lighting. This provides extra protection for workers that might find themselves in low light conditions.
Application Tips
When applying a sticker to a hard hat, you need to take care to avoid air bubbles. A broad, flat surface (such as the front and sides) works best.
The crown of a hard hat typically features a ridge or two. It's difficult to wrap a sticker around these smaller curves without creating a bubble or a gap that will degree the adhesive and offer opportunities for tears.
Make certain the surface is clean and dry before applying a sticker. Use Isopropyl alcohol to get a clean surface that will bind well and prevent decay.
Attach one side firmly and then roll the sticker down and across. Make use of a card or a vinyl squeegee to get the best results. Run the applicator across a few times while the adhesive is fresh to push out air and flatten any wrinkles.
Displaying Tips
It's best to create a straightforward and thorough policy on hard hat stickers at the outset. Take into account the OSHA guidelines on the subject. They don't forbid the practice but have some reservations about how stickers should and shouldn't be used.
To keep the stickers readable and to apply them easily, you want to stick with the four most visible zones. These include the front, the back, and the sides. The sides can display more than one sticker but avoid overcrowding.
It's good to use the front for a company or team logo. The back is a useful place for safety information. The sides can be more open to individual or unit customization.
Whatever orientations you chose, make certain that workers follow through to avoid confusion.
Per OSHA guidelines, you want to avoid stickers masking defects and problems with the hard hat. Keep the stickers at least 3/4 an inch away from the edges. Stickers should not wrap around the entire hat or underneath.
It's not exactly uncommon for workers to wind up practically taping together their PPE without realizing it. You'll still want to check the hard hats periodically for signs of damage and that can be harder with stickers in place.
Part of the point of stickers, be they funny hard stickers, safety stickers, or others is to be visible at a distance. Too many stickers too close together become unreadable.
When using stickers for purposes of unit identification and safety, you'll want to replace them when they become difficult to read at a distance. For purposes of fun and personalization, it's up to your workers to decide when something isn't popping as much as they want.
Even for purposes of fun, keep guidelines on how frequently new stickers can be added or changed. Like anything else on the job site, you don't want to create or allow distractions from the tasks at hand.
Sticker Longevity
Vinyl stickers will last through heat and cold, moisture and direct sunlight for three to five years. Vinyl stickers maintain color and shape well from current manufacturing techniques.
That said, they aren't indestructible. They are resistant to abrasions but can't hold up against being rubbed with a rough grain.
They don't fade in direct sunlight and are relatively resistant to weaker acids and chemicals. Any chemical that will eat through the sticker outright can eat through the hard hat. In this way, a deteriorating sticker offers almost a secondary indicator of contamination.
Get the Best
With so many reasons to use hard hat stickers, it's hard not tom give them a shot. We have a lot of designs already made to order. If nothing strikes you, we also offer custom sticker building.
It doesn't matter if you want to keep it strictly professional, add a touch of levity, or a bit of both at Crane Safety Stickers, we produce the best for you.
