A piece of personal protective equipment featuring a hard outer shell and an internal suspension system. It absorbs and deflects the force of objects dropped from above. While structural firefighters wear specialized helmets, these lighter units are standard for technical rescue, trench operations, and wildland firefighting where heat resistance is secondary to impact protection.
Heard on the job
Nobody crosses the tape into the collapse zone without a hard hat and steel toes.
Do not mix it up with
- Helmet: A helmet in structural firefighting includes extensive thermal protection and face shields, while a hard hat provides basic impact protection for outdoor or rescue tasks.