Safety Helmet Colors: Is There a Standard Code for Different Roles?

Safety Helmet Color Coding Scheme

Is there a specific color coding scheme that should be followed for safety helmets based on different categories of people? If so, please provide details.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
SSM

Safety Helmet Color Coding

Red is normally used by fire team members, green is used by first aiders/medical staff, and white helmets are for all other staff.

Regards,

Actually, there is nothing to do with the color of helmets. It's for the protection of the organization's greatest asset - the head. Though one can use colors for easy identification of persons or employees.

Color Assignment for Safety Helmets

The following colors can be assigned:
-  Red: Firefighters or Electricians
-  Green: First Aiders or Utility Operators
-  Yellow: Workers or All
- ⚪ White: Staff or Visitors
-  Blue: Contract Workers or Casuals

The choice is yours.

Regards,
Sachin Thorat

My suggestion is as follows:
- Employee - White (marked with Name & Blood group)
- Visitors - White (marked as VISITOR)
- Contract Workmen - Yellow
- Safety - Green
- Electrician, Security, Blaster, Driver & Fire - Red

If you are selecting helmets, opt for FRP Helmets. They provide better protection than any other material.

Thank you.

Mr. Hami, Mr. Sam, Mr. Sachin, Mr. PBR, and Mr. Dipil have provided a solution to your query. OSHA does not require any particular colors for helmets as per our requirements, and for easy identification, we will use different colors of hard hats. However, OSHA suggests using high-visibility colored hard hats, which is why we mostly use yellow, red, green, and white.

I have heard that EM-385 has some standard colors for hard hats, but I do not have any proof. I mentioned that section below. If anyone has a document specifying standard colors, please share it on this thread to help our EHS professionals. Again, I want to emphasize that I do not have any proof for this; I heard it from my friends. If I do get any documentation, I will share it with everyone.

ER 385-1-6 Standard Color and Markings for Hard Hats

Keep on sharing.

Regards

ER 385-1-6: Standard Color and Markings for Hardhats

ER 385-1-6, Standard Color, and Markings for Hardhats, is specifically for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is not applicable for all.

Regards,
Subhendra

Color Coding Scheme for Safety Helmets

For workmen, yellow.
For maintenance, blue.
For staff, white.
For signalmen/riggers, brown.
For fire watch, red.

Regards,
Peddi V R

Very well said, Mr. Sachin Thorat. It's the safety that is more important than colors, and the codes given by him are also perfect. One addition I'd like to make is that some pharmaceutical companies provide helmets to their field sales employees with their logo and a reflector for riding safely at night.

You are right; it's only applicable for Corps of Engineers sites. Nowadays, those who work overseas, especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, Kenya, etc., mostly work with US Corps of Engineers sites. So, if you have that EM-385 document, please share it with us, especially since it would be helpful for me.

As I was going through this thread, a thought popped into my mind. Why did you mention that safety professionals should wear a GREEN-colored hardhat? Is there any law stating this? What is the reason behind using the color green? Why not white, red, or any other color? I am not aware of the rationale behind this. If anyone has any insights, please share.

Thanks in advance.

For safety professionals, the green color indicates soothing, soft, and easily identifiable characteristics. There is no specific law or reason for this; it is simply a convention. The green color is often used internationally to communicate safety and demonstrate safety measures.

Regards,
Peddi V R
"Work of any kind, keep safety in mind"

Thank you for the quick reply. However, a question has arisen in my mind. For example, in India, EHS professionals, most safety department personnel use green hats, but all EHS supervisors and managers only use white hats. Why is that?

Regards,
Raghu

Dear Raghu, this is a typical mentality, to show superiority or indifference, etc. No other reason, but in my view, everyone from EHS professionals from bottom to top should wear a green helmet irrespective of their grades. Uniformity should be maintained.

To bring discipline and uniformity, we have to live by setting an example beginning from self.

Regards,
Peddi V R

Color Coding Scheme for Safety Helmets

 Red - Safety/Fire Department

 Blue - Maintenance (Welder/Fitter/Electrician, etc.)

 Orange - Executive Level (Technical)

⚪ White - Visitors/Management

 Yellow - Workers

 Green - Head of the Company (CEO, CMD, President)

Nice discussion. In fact, color coding is done to identify different categories of employees, as discussed. It gives us the advantage of identifying a new person on the shop floor. Is he a visitor? Or an EHS guy? Or first aid, like this.

One more advantage is that during any kind of emergencies or accidents, we can identify the rescue team, first aid team, and approach them immediately for help instead of searching for persons.

We use:
- Red: Fire fighting and rescue team
- Green: EHS
- White: Visitors
- Yellow: Contractors
- Blue: Company Employees.

Regards,
Hansa Vyas

Dear Raghu, the question you asked—why is the green color being used by safety professionals—was thought-provoking for me as well. I don't know the exact answer. I have discussed it with many people, but they have not given me a satisfactory answer.

Mr. Peddi VR has provided an answer regarding this, but I am still looking forward to more insights. If anyone knows more about the same, please shed some light on this.

Regards

I agree with Abhay; that is the reason why we kept green for EHS and red for danger, so it is for the fire and rescue team.

Regards,
Hansa Vyas

Green color is creative and gives a soothing effect to the eyes. It is a requirement for EHS professionals to be creative while executing tasks to anticipate imminent dangers and hazards and implement control measures before incidents occur.

Primary colors like red, yellow, and blue are alarming and cautionary, so these should be designated for operations, maintenance personnel, and others involved in hazardous operations.

Soft colors like white should be assigned to office staff, supervisors, and managers.

Thanks,
Peddi V R

I am following the color codes as follows:

Color Codes for Safety Helmets

- White: Engineers, Supervisors, Visitors
- Yellow: Laborers
- Green: Safety Officers
- Blue: Operators
- Red/Orange: Electricians

Thank you.

Dear Friends, Nice discussion. Let me write a few points.

Color coding is not available anywhere internationally. Each company makes its choice based on the recommendation of HSE/Security and Administration. However, from the point of ergonomics, the following points are guidelines for selectors.

In the man-machine-environment system, we learn that man responds to a given stimulus. For many situations, a generalized response is given. For example, most Indians expect a light switch to be turned by flipping the switch "down" and off by an "up" movement, while most Americans expect the opposite. A clockwise motion generally refers to an increase. These responses are called "population stereotypes," common behavior responses shared by nearly everyone in the population.

In occupational safety, population stereotypes are particularly important for hazard identification and recognition through various warning systems. Ideally, a visual or auditory warning system should utilize known associations for words (Danger, Caution, and Warning) and colors (red, yellow, green, blue) to specify the degree of hazard associated with a specific industrial condition. Research has shown that workers associate different degrees of hazard with various visual hazard alert cues. For instance, danger signs (color coded red) elicit a higher level of hazard association than caution signs (color coded yellow). Similarly, THINK signs (color coded green) elicit a higher level of hazard association than NOTICE signs (color coded blue).

It can be very useful to use different colors or helmet shapes to identify the category of personnel on the site (construction site, plants, etc.). This differentiation can be important for security and internal organization to easily distinguish between production workers and operators, supervisors, plant/department managers, security officers, maintenance technicians, emergency personnel, etc. Helmets can also be customized with logos or stickers for easier identification.

The Clue:

1. Fire extinguishers, fire warnings, etc., are red. What color helmet would you choose for a firefighter's helmet?

2. Green cross, green triangle, etc., are safety logos internationally. What color would you prefer for helmets for safety staff?

It is up to your company to choose the colors based on recommendations from respective departments. Do you have a say in it as a safetyman?

Ref: A.P.M. For Industrial Operations

Regards,
Kesava Pillai

Color Code for Safety Helmets

In industries where safety protocols are crucial, using color-coded safety helmets helps in quickly identifying different roles and enhancing safety measures. The color coding typically follows a standard scheme:

- Yellow helmets are for laborers.
- White helmets are designated for engineers, supervisors, and visitors.
- Red helmets are specifically for electricians.
- Blue helmets are worn by operators.
- Green helmets signify safety personnel.

By adhering to these color codes, organizations can streamline communication and ensure that individuals are easily recognizable based on their roles within the workplace.

Dear Kesava Pillai Sir, really great reply again to such a silly topic. I was not expecting even your participation in this thread, but as always, you come up with some new ideas.

Population stereotypes were new to me, and the clue was enough to explain the topic to any other person. It will be in mind, and I will not forget such clues.

Thanks, and hope to learn more from you.

Please don't take it otherwise, but I don't agree with your suggestion to go in for FRP helmets. These helmets may be very protective in high-temperature areas like steel plants or melting zones. However, if we are talking about construction safety, then FRP helmets are not a good choice because they don't break upon impact. This means that the entire impact is transmitted to the nape of the user's neck.

Regards,
Ravi

[QUOTE=dipil;1491459]Dear SSM,
My suggestion is as follows:
Employee – White (marked with Name & Blood group)
Visitors – White (marked as VISITOR)
Contract Workmen - Yellow
Safety - Green
Electrician, Security, Blaster, Driver & Fire – Red
If you are in the selection of helmets, go for FRP Helmets. They offer the best protection compared to any other material...[\/QUOTE]

Suggested Color Coding for Safety Helmets

My suggestion is as follows:

- To all staff: White
- Fire & Electrical: Red
- ESH: Green
- All workers: Yellow
- Co-workers: Blue
- Visitors: Orange

Dear Dipil Sir, Good Morning, I am very much with you on all the 5 points written by your good self, but the issue once again is as under: If something falls on my FRP helmet (considering that it will not break due to the material used in its making, Point No. 1), where will the whole impact come? If something falls on my HDPE helmet and it breaks (deflecting the impact of the fall and dissipating the energy of the impact towards the ground or away from my head), what do you feel? Kindly comment.

Regards, Ravi