Milwaukee Tool has expanded their line of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with new safety helmets.
Milwaukee says that their new safety helmets provide better protection and more comfort than other options currently available.
Advertisement
All of the new Milwaukee helmets features their BOLT interface, which allows for quick and easy accessory attachment. There are 4 BOLT accessory slots and 2 universal accessory slots. Each helmet comes with a headlamp mount that is said to fit most headlamps, and a Bolt marker clip.
Additional options, such as the clear face shield shown in the first image, as well as earmuff and visor attachments, are on the way, having been previously announced alongside the helmets last fall.
Milwaukee’s safety helmets feature an anti-microbial sweatband and helmet liner, and a swinging ratchet adjustment.
Advertisement
Here’s a rear view of the ratcheting strap adjustment.
The new Milwaukee Tool safety helmets will be available in 4 styles, – vented (Class C) and unvented (Class E), with no brim and front brim options.
Each comes with headlamp and market clips. Other accessories are not included.
Milwaukee is launching their new helmets in 7 different colors – their iconic red, plus black, white, blue, green, yellow, and orange.
Milwaukee Helmet SKUs, Pricing, and Availability
Pricing and Availability
MSPR: $109.97
ETA: September 2021
Milwaukee Vented Safety Helmets – Type 2, Class C
- White – 48-73-1300
- Yellow – 48-73-1302
- Blue – 48-73-1304
- Green – 48-73-1306
- Red – 48-73-1308
- Black – 48-73-1310
- Orange – 48-73-1312
Milwaukee Safety Helmets – Type 2, Class E
- White – 48-73-1301
- Yellow – 48-73-1303
- Blue – 48-73-1305
- Green – 48-73-1307
- Red – 48-73-1309
- Black – 48-73-1311
- Orange – 48-73-1313
Milwaukee Vented Front Brim Safety Helmets – Type 2, Class C
- White – 48-73-1320
- Yellow – 48-73-1322
- Blue – 48-73-1324
- Green – 48-73-1326
- Red – 48-73-1328
- Black – 48-73-1330
- Orange – 48-73-1332
Milwaukee Front Brim Safety Helmets – Type 2, Class E
- White – 48-73-1321
- Yellow – 48-73-1323
- Blue – 48-73-1325
- Green -E 48-73-1327
- Red – 48-73-1329
- Black – 48-73-1331
- Orange – 48-73-1333
Milwaukee Safety Helmet Accessories
- Ratcheting Suspension 48-73-1098 – $19.97
- Sweat Band 48-73-1092 – $12.97
- Liner 48-73-1093 – $16.97
- Chin Strap 48-73-1084 – $16.97
Milwaukee Helmet Safety Ratings
The safety helmets are ANSI type 2 and meet energy absorption capacity clauses 4.2.1.2 (front), 4.2.1.3 (side), and 4.3.1.4 (rear), and Retention System clauses 4.3.3 (Strength) and 4.2.4 (Effectiveness) of EN12492:2012.
Why Safety Helmets?
Press materials quote the following from Zach Richman, Group Product Manager at Milwaukee Tool:
With more than half of fatal work-related traumatic injuries resulting in falls, workers are becoming more aware of the dangers of slips, trips, and falls. For that reason, there is a growing trend in helmet adoption by general contractors and sub-contractors because helmets offer side protection whereas traditional hard hats only include the top of head protection.
Unfortunately, some helmets on the market today often sacrifice safety for comfort and style (and vice versa). With our new Safety Helmets, you don’t need to make that trade-off, as they provide a high level of both safety and comfort.
Safety Helmets vs. Hard Hats
My understanding is that hard hats are designed to protect users against falling objects, and also from bumps, scrapes, and sharp objects such as exposed nails. Certain classes of hard hats are also designed to protect against electrical exposure.
Safety helmets can do that as well, but also help to better protect your head in case of a fall. Milwaukee says their safety helmets protect against both top and side impacts.
Some jobs might call for a hard hat, others might call for a safety helmet.
Also Coming Soon: Helmet Attachments
Milwaukee Tool has previously announced new BOLT accessories, including a clear face shield that will work with Milwaukee’s helmets and hard hats. These accessories were not discussed in recent press materials, suggesting they will be launching a little later.
An earmuff attachment with swing-away standby position will also be available.
Discussion
It’s always good to see more safety options.
You – or a safety officer at larger jobs – will have to determine these helmets’ suitability for your needs. The way I see it, a hard hat is designed to help protect users against hazards in their work environment, while a safety helmet can do that too (depending on its rating) and also adds in greater impact protection in case of a fall.
Current Competition
There are quite a few other safety helmets on the market, some less expensive and some a bit pricier. Many of those options also have clip-on accessory options, such as earmuffs.
One thing that I noticed is that a lot of safety helmets are rated as providing Type 1 protection. Type 1 hard hats and helmets are designed to protect against top impacts, while Type 2 provide top and side impact protection.
Type 2 hard hats are relatively easy to find, but I’m not having an easy time finding good examples of Type 2 safety helmets. All of the newly launching Milwaukee Tool safety helmets are Type 2.
3M SecureFit Safety Helmets at Amazon
MSA Safety Helmets via Amazon
Kask Safety Helmets via Amazon
David
If they have a good set of attachable hearing protection that clips to the sides and works well with the clear visor, I’d be tempted to replace a variety of different gear with a single setup. I’m always piling a clear face shield at my lathe with muffs, and wouldn’t mind having the helmet as a base with everything on it so I can don it all at once.
Gordon
It looks like the muffs and face shield connect at the same point, so it might be one or the other. I’d take the face shield, as you can always use some earbud style, or around the neck earmuffs.
Ben
Same here. Especially if a vent hood is released. I’ve seen enough lathe accident reports that I’m happy to wear a face shield but a helmet plus , especially if more comfortable, is no problem.
ca
Husqvarna makes a helmet with face shield and earmuffs.
Leo B.
These helmets will be a good option for a lot of commercial sites now, and maybe residential sites in the future. Although, additionally, I spy a new Milwaukee Inkzall design! I don’t know if they just did something a little different for the render or if that’s a new design, but it’s definitely different. Thanks for the introduction to these, Stuart!
Dave
They are ultra fine point jobsite pens that have been on the market for years, look up model number 48-22-3164 for example.
Leo B.
Ah, good catch. I haven’t looked at the ultra-fine point pens much, but it’s good to know they’re a different look. Thanks!
MM
These look a lot better than the old-school “hard hat” I’m used to. Ergos look better, it looks faster to take on and off. I like the fact they have vented models available. The headlamp mount is brilliant. I rarely work somewhere that falling objects are a concern but bump protection is often welcome. One thing I’d like to see is a built-in attachment or option for a face shield. I have a tilt-up faceshield that fits on my V-guard hard hat but honestly it’s a clunky afterthought. Heavy too. A removable faceshield that was designed alongside the helmet would be a great improvement if you ask me.
onyx16
The Uvex pheos helmet has an excellent visor that retracts on top of the helmet and is less front-heavy than competitors. In the US, HexArmor has a partnership with Uvex and sells the pheos under the “Ceros” moniker. https://www.hexarmor.com/products/xp-magnetic-face-shield-kit
Kingsley
“Anti-microbial helmet” means I won’t have to have it polished so often!
Stuart
I don’t get it.
Anti-microbial usually means less stink.
Chris S
The adoption rate of these will be very slow at $110 each.
This is getting up in the range of something like more custom full brim carbon fiber hard hats and only people that get into buying there own hard hats would ever consider them (probably 1/10 of all the people I’ve ever met on sites).
They look neat, but I think they will be few and far between. Though Milwaukee does tons of sales in creative ways, I could see these paired with drill combo kits and such to promote their safety gear.
Kieran
Not really, soon it will be an osha standard. Our company are implementing them and require all subcontractors to have them beginning of next year
Wayne R.
Certainly, if your tools are/should be tethered and you’re wearing a fall arrest harness, helmets make a whole lot more sense than a hard hat that’s going to fall off. I wonder how many injuries are caused by falling hard hats…
Even if you’re down on the ground, or even in a hole, a helmet makes way more sense, I think.
Jim Felt
I’m pleased to see this. More advanced consumer level tool users will see the connection between their power tools and actual safety when some of these are displayed at the retail/Home Depot level.
Lots of similar safety gear just isn’t that easy to see and therefore consider let alone buy.
Matt J.
I did some arborist work years ago. This looks a lot like a climbing helmet, which are readily available for similar or less money already, some with Class 1 or 2 protection as well. You can get a Class 2 E one of those for around $60, with the ability to add Peltor muffs and face shields as well. I think the real sell here is Milwaukee taking existing, established tech and using their name and R&D abilities to bring it to the construction world. Not a bad thing…anyone who’s worn both would be reluctant to go back to a hard hat I think. I do think a Class 1 with better venting would be a good add, though. For those that don’t need the extra protection, the venting is a big selling point IMO.
Jamanjeval
This is a good start. But, I’d like to see is a way to quickly attach earmuffs and for Milwaukee to come out with Bluetooth earmuffs with built in ambient noise reduction and a way to hear just voices. Also, it should have the red safety light beacon on the back like their other headlamp.
I’m currently using the red lithium headlamp with beacon on a skateboarding helmet which appears very similar to these and I find it comfortable enough to wear all day. I don’t have to worry about a steel beam dropping on my head, but it’s perfect for protection from roofing nails in attics and bumps in crawl spaces and basements. The only issue I have is I have to remove it to put on ear muffs.
Nathan
I’d love for them to come up with a fan for the vented hard hat that would run off a 12v battery.
Scott K
These looks similar to climbing helmets (Petzl/Black Diamond). Glad to see the push into PPE. Hopefully this encourages more people to consider taking better care of themselves. $100 isn’t bad considering the cost of most cordless tools…
Elliott
I think it’s important to note that Black Diamond and other climbing helmets are generally not ANSI rated and might not adequately protect someone from falling object impacts. Petzl Vertex and Kask are good options.
Jbongo
That was my first thought. I’ve pretty much just always used my Black Diamond helmet when I need head protection. No point in buying a hard hat when I wouldn’t use it very often. Sadly, my helmet doesn’t get much use repelling or climbing any more either.
Plain grainy
The only safety helmet I’ve worn is when cutting trees. I’m not even sure of the safety rating, made by Stihl I think. The ear muff hearing protection seems really nice. Just wish they would incorporate a battery operated fan , as those helmets can get warm!
Albert
This thing, with the headlamp, looks like a natural for first responders; there are frequently tight spaces with plenty of stuff to bump against and hard hats sit too high, those with brims are too bulky. No idea what the *probable* clear face shield and its attachment will look like in actual use, but should be simple to cut it in half to still provide eye protection without being too bulky.
FYI, the Husquvarna helmet mentioned above – they’re great, but…the face shield is mesh. Terrific for chain saw or weed wacker work, but 1) the mesh “fuzzes” visual detail, and; 2) you still need decent safety glasses under it because real small particles (aka ” large dust”) will go through the mesh.
PETE
These look like they have a protec texture to them. I’d be interested in these- a bunch of stage riggers wear these style of hard hats.
motoj
For anyone interested in a modern professional line of hard hats I would take a serious a look at the Petzl Vertex or Vertex Vent (https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Professional/Helmets/VERTEX-VENT). For hot/humid environments the Vent with adjustable vents is just awesome.
These be had with integrated ANSI safety glasses (not just a visor), various different hearing protectors (I use Peltor), flash light etc. After a lot of searching this has been my go-to helmet, both professionally for sites requiring hard hat and safety glasses and/or hearing protection, as well as a slightly different setup for climbing and caving.
Only negative item I’ve found so far is the “tool truck” price level; but I feel I get what I pay for.
JoeM
Okay… I have to ask, because… I have to ask… This is entirely outside my scope of tool or equipment use…
Why can a fully rated tactical military helmet, used by all branches of the US and global millitaries, be so outside of classified design as to be available to Paintball and Airsoft users… yet not be available to be recoloured for Tool Companies such as Milwaukee here?
First off… Looking online, a fully authentic Modular Tactical Helmet is available from Children’s, all the way up to extra-large Adult sizes, ranging from around $40 to around $80, depending on size. This exact design, materials and all, is identical whether you are a member of the Military, buying from your branch’s Quartermaster, or a Child, buying to go play with fake guns on a Paintball course for fun… So… What is stopping a company like Milwaukee from buying them in ultra-bulk, commissioned in their company colours, as well as civilian preferred colours, then just making their own accessories to fit the standard rail system?
None of these things are locked down as classified technologies… The Tactical Rail System or the Tactical Kevlar Helmet itself… If it’s so easy to get the real rail system full coverage helmet as a civilian… Why can’t Milwaukee have the identical ones custom commissioned with their brand name? The swing back earphones/ear protection, and full face shield, seem like something that could easily be adapted to the Rail system, along with that Milwaukee-designed headlamp. The design of Milwaukee’s helmet appears nearly identical to a Tactical helmet without the Rails attached. The Base Model one would buy anyways.
So… What’s the Cliche Question? Why Re-Invent the Wheel? If the standard Tactical Helmet is over-designed to handle anything a Navy Seal Team might encounter, wouldn’t that more than cover the needs of a Construction Worker?
Norman Jenks
Our company is moving towards the climber style hard hat such as yours.
The problem is always, not the cost of the helmet, but the accessories. We use face shields a lot for our metal stud framing activities.
Is there a face shield frame that allows us to replace just the plastic or screened shield and reuse the frame?
Another issue is welding hoods. is there a welding hood that fits your hard hat?