b'Virginia Tech to Study, Rate Construction Helmets Helmet technology in sports has gotten increasingly better, according to Barry Miller, director of outreach and business development for the Helmet Lab. Millions of data points collected by researchers from sensors in Virginia Tech athletes have helped the lab understand how they hit their heads, and then develop ratings for which helmets best protect athletes from those collisions. For example, the highest-rated varsity football helmet has a Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Riskor STARvalue score of 0.52; that number represents the number of concussions a wearer could expect in an average season of football where they sustain 420 helmet collisions, Miller told Construction Dive. Soon, Miller said, the Helmet Lab wants to have those same ratings for work helmets.Leaders in constructionsuch as Clark and DPRhave switched from hard hats to helmets, with someInjury reports say I fell and I hit my head. OK. making the change years ago. The traditionalWell, where? How hard? Did you hit your back first? headgear only protects workers from blows directlyMiller said. to the top of the head, while helmets protect workers heads from multiple angles.The best type of information that the lab can use to When it comes to rating construction helmets today,recreate head injuries is video, Miller said. Contractors however, theres usually just one metric: if thecan help by supplying any visual aid to indicate how headgear can withstand a certain amount of force thatworkers fall and hit their heads, which can inform could cause death, from a fall or other contact.researchers how to better test helmets in the lab. The Virginia Tech research is more concerned withOver 20 years, head protection in sports has gotten a the head trauma someone can encounter day to day,lot better, Miller said. The goal is to keep expanding and the best ways of protecting a workers head fromthat. multiple types of injury.A five-star helmet today is not the same as five-star To get a sense for those injuries, Miller said, the lab10 years ago. It just keeps evolving. And we want is working on collecting data about head collisions onthat, he said. the job. The problem is what information is in theBy Zachary Phillipsavailable data.21'