DECEMBER 1951 - Milwaukee Road Archive

safety at work
on the MILWAUKEE
HARD HATS
for the
war
on Injury
INCE the days of the cave man, hats
S have been fashioned and worn for
a variety of reasons.
At first, of course, the idea of a head
covering was conceived as a means of
protection against the elements, but the
vanity of men soon asserted itself, and it
was discovered that a trinket or some
other bit of finery added something to
the wearer's feeling of importance.
Man, however, was also a practical be.
ing then as he is today and was not long
in discovering that by changing the material
and construction of his hat it could
be made to serve the extra, and more important,
function of protecting his head
from blows that might cause injuries.
Many a knight in clanking armor
lived to a more advanced age simply by
adding a metal helmet to his regalia, and
thousands of Doughboys and GIs owe
their lives to their "tin hats" and hel.
mets.
The principle of the soldier's helmet
is used today on The Milwaukee Road
and in many other industries as a means
of protecting men whose work exposes
them to the danger of head injuries due
to falling or flying objects.
Practically a thing of the past is the
once familiar soft hat of the lumberjack,
and in its place is a hat of metal or com·
position designed to withstand and deflect
the blow of a falling limb or tree top
which could penetrate the skull of any-
Left: This and the pictures on Page 5 were
taken in late October on the Rocky Mountain
Division just east of Falcon, Idaho, where a
Milwaukee Road crew was rebuilding the portal
of Tunnel No. 27 in connection with a project
involving the relining of the 470-foot tube.
This work is typical of railroad projects reo
quiring protective headgear.