In 1919, the construction industry was forever changed by the invention of an often overlooked but significant worker safety advancement: the hard hat. The invention of the hard hat revolutionized and galvanized the businesses and the people behind the American industrial boom. Today, the hard hat is the most recognizable safety product worn by workers on industrial jobsites around the world.
The hard hat comes from the Kentuckybased, family-owned company Bullard, which was founded in 1898 in San Francisco by Edward Dickinson Bullard. The company originally supplied carbide lamps and other mining equipment to gold and copper miners in California, Nevada and Arizona. When Edward Dickinson Bullard's son, Edward W. Bullard, returned from World War I, he combined his understanding of customer needs and his experience with his doughboy army helmet to design a protective headgear for miners.
The "Hard Boiled®" Hat was introduced in 1919 and represented the first of many innovative designs over the past century that has led Bullard to its prominent position in head protection for industrial and emergency response applications.
"The original Hard Boiled Hat was manufactured out of steamed canvas, glue, a leather brim and black paint," said Wells Bullard, CEO of Bullard.
During the 1930s, while the Golden Gate Bridge was being constructed in San Francisco, bridge engineer Joseph B. Strauss contacted Bullard to request that the company adapt its hats to protect bridge workers; it was also the first area ever designated as a "hard hat area." Bullard not only supplied hard hats for this famous project, but its engineers also designed an original supplied-air respirator for workers responsible for blasting the steelwork prior to the application of the bridge's "international orange" paint.
Today, Bullard is an international PPE manufacturer of hard hats as well as other safety equipment, including respiratory products, fire helmets and thermal imagers. The hard hat design has progressed greatly over the years with advances in materials such as fiberglass. Thermoplastics is the standard material for hard hat construction today, because it's easy to mold and shape with applied heat.
Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., with its 1,000 employees, has been in business for 117 years and has been a Bullard customer since 1962. Hawaiian Dredging Construction HS&E Director Joaquin Diaz said his long-lasting relationship with Bullard is due to the company's commitment to providing quality safety products.
"Relationships don't last long if trust isn't part of them," said Diaz. "We trust Bullard to produce equipment designed to best protect our employees. Bullard has a long history in the business. The Bullard people make the company and our interactions with them positive."
As Wells Bullard leads her fifth-generation business into the future, she said she understands how rare it is to have a business achieve this type of longevity.
"My family has had a really deep commitment to remaining independent," said Bullard. "We believe that's what's best for our employees, customers, channel partners and suppliers because it allows us to have a long-term focus. We are proud to be celebrating 100 years of an innovation that truly helped our country grow and keep the hard-working women and men who built it safer."
For more information, visit www. bullard.com or call 877-BULLARD [285-5273].
