Prevention on construction sites: campaign raises awareness of wearing helmets

The brain is vital and must be protected - not only during sports and leisure activities, but also at work. As part of the prevention campaign «Protect your brain - protect your life!», FRAGILE Suisse, in collaboration with the Federal Office for Occupational Safety (BfA), Building Materials Suisse (BMS) and Mips, is raising awareness among construction workers of the importance of wearing a helmet at work.

Thousands of head injuries every year

5,000 people a year suffer a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in Switzerland. This type of brain injury can have serious consequences - in fact, traumatic brain injury is the most common cause of death in people under 45. Suva counts around 12,000 head injuries every year - many of them on Swiss construction sites. Many injuries could be prevented by taking preventative measures: These include, in particular, wearing a helmet correctly, including fastening the chin strap.

Affected person shares his experiences

«I would give anything to be able to work in construction again.» So says Peter B., who suffered a comminuted skull fracture and severe traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident at work. As part of the prevention campaign, he shared his personal experiences with other employees in the construction industry at a training day for occupational safety.

FRAGILE Suisse, the Swiss organization for people with brain injuries and their families, is conducting this nationwide campaign with a current focus on wearing helmets. To this end, it is working together with the Federal Office for Occupational Safety (BfA), the association of specialists in the construction materials trade (BMS) and the Swedish company Mips, which specializes in helmet safety and brain protection.

Protective equipment for construction machine operators

As part of this cooperation, all persons who pass the construction machinery operator training receive a multi-part set of personal protective equipment (PPE). This includes hearing and sun protection as well as a safety helmet with an integrated brain protection system for industrial safety helmets (Mips). In addition, a sample safety helmet from the Swedish company «Guardio» with the Mips brain protection system will be on display in around 70 branches, along with information about FRAGILE Suisse.

Raising awareness nationwide

With this campaign, FRAGILE Suisse is not only campaigning for the safety of construction workers, but also for broad public awareness of brain injuries and their consequences. In line with this, the organization has developed new Filler advertisements on the subject of wearing helmets published. By publishing these free advertisements, the media can also support the prevention campaign.

More information on the campaign at www.fragile.ch/schuetzedeinhirn.