Sanitation and construction workers lodged a complaint after police gave them tickets for not wearing crash helmets when they were riding motorcycles or scooters, but wearing hard hats instead. They accused the police of nitpicking. The police’s reply is that a hard hat and a motorcycle helmet are two different things. They say that wearing a motorcycle helmet on a construction site or a hard hat on a motorcycle may result in fines and can both be hazardous.
Cases in which people get fined for wearing hard hats on motorcycles mostly involve sanitation and constructions workers who think that a hard hat can protect the head just as well as a crash helmet. They also find it very inconvenient to carry both a hard hat and a motorcycle helmet when they travel to work.
The City Police Department says that, because these hats are used in different situations and have different features, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection established the CNS2396 national standard for motorcycle helmets and the CNS1336 standard for hard hats. The former principally aims to protect both sides of the head from impacts, while the latter mainly protects the head from injury caused by falling objects.
Photo: Huang Chung-shan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者黃鐘山
Given that construction workers have to wear hard hats for an extended period of time, air-cushioned pads and suspension bands are included in the design. The space between the shell and the wearer’s head, a weight limit and so on are also specified in the standard, so as to make workers more willing to wear hard hats and to make them more comfortable.
A motorcycle helmet is designed differently because of the way it is used to resist impact. The cushioned pads are made of polystyrene and cotton. Crash helmets are heavier than hard hats and there is no space for heat dissipation. Consequently, crash helmets are oppressive, stuffy, hot and humid, making them unsuitable for prolonged use. Additionally, hard hats have to undergo tests regarding electric insulation, water absorption and lateral rigidity, among others, but motorcycle helmets are exempt from these tests.
The police stress that wearing a motorcycle helmet on a construction site is not only insufficient for resisting impacts, but can also be too oppressive, heavy, humid and electroconductive, among other problems. On the other hand, wearing a hard hat while riding a motorcycle can be hazardous because hard hats are not sufficient for protecting the temples from impacts. Either mistake will result in receiving tickets from the police, they warn.
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
清潔隊、工程人員投訴，戴工程安全帽騎機車，被警察依未戴安全帽開罰，他們質疑警方找碴。警方表示，工程安全帽與機車安全帽不同，不管是工地錯戴機車安全帽，或騎機車錯戴工程安全帽，都會被開單告發，也都可能產生危險。
騎機車戴工程安全帽挨罰的案例，以清潔隊員、工程人員居多，他們認為工程安全帽與機車安全帽同樣有保護頭部功能，外出工作要同時帶工程安全帽、機車安全帽，很不方便。
市警局指出，這兩種安全帽因使用情況及產品特性不同，經濟部標準檢驗局制定CNS2396（騎乘機車用防護頭盔）及CNS1336（工地用防護頭盔）國家標準。前者主要保護頭部側邊的衝擊性危害；後者主要是防止頭部受落下物擊傷。
考量勞工長期使用安全帽，工程安全帽結構以抗震帶、頭帶等戴具設計，並規定配戴間隙、重量限制等，是為提高配戴意願與舒適性。
機車安全帽因為防護衝擊設計不同，結構以保利龍及棉布等緩衝墊材設計，重量較重且無間隙散熱，造成頭頂壓迫及悶熱、潮濕，不適合長時間使用。此外，工程安全帽另有電氣絕緣性、吸水性、橫向剛性等測試項目，機車安全帽則不必檢測。
警方強調，在工地場所錯戴機車安全帽，除有帽頂耐衝擊不足危險外，還有戴用壓迫、重、濕熱及可能感電等問題；相對於騎乘機車時，錯戴工程安全帽，則有頭部側邊耐衝擊不足的危險。錯戴都會被開單告發。
（自由時報記者黃鐘山、蘇金鳳）
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