printing on Safety helmets

[Robert Lambie]

cut or print and cut vinyl…

[Sarandaz]

Ok, Thanks Rob.

how much would labels like this sell for?

sarandaz

mod-edit

[David Rogers]

One thing to watch out for when stickering & printing safety equipment such as helmets is the warranty..and therefore any guaranteed ratings / protection.

Some manufacturers can specify in their documentation that application of adhesive stickers or paints invalidate the warranty.

The was some concern among certain manufacturers that the solvents in some inks, paints or vinyl adhesives would affect the outer shell / structural integrity if the plastics.

I can’t remember which company I did helmets (just vinyl) for, but I had to supply a C of C (Certificate of Conformity) stating the adhesive used on the vinyl was guaranteed solvent free. Was a water based so OK.

Dave

[Robert Lambie]

i understand what you say as i have come up against this issue many moons ago with my own bike BELL helmet.
in all honesty, i think its upto the custoer to have done their homework or at least state the adhesives from spec given to them that are acceptable when ordering. that way you just look at the spec on your vinyl and say yes or no to supplying the stickers. ide never get over involved with something like helmet stickers unless the customer is paying for your time.

[Shane Drew]

I’ve just completed some hard hats for the mines in PNG for another sign shop.

Waterbased glues are the preference here. But haviong said that, I needed them in reflective, and all reflective glues are solvent based.

I contacted Oracal here and they sent of an enquiry to Oracal HQ with regards the legality of using the Oracal Reflective materials.

They said there is no issue with the adhesives in the Oracal reflectives. Apparently the safety concerns were in relation to earlier generation adhesives, but most adhesives now are eons ahead of that era.

Oracal sent me the mdf which was, in truth, totally useless for my need, but the customer was prepared to take the chance, and his customer likewise was OK with the adhesive issue.

End of the day, they required reflective stickers to enhance safety, and no such material is available in water based adhesive. They figure the hard hats will be lost or replaced at regular intervals anyway, so it was something they were prepared to do.

I think Oracal are right tho. Adhesives now are a much better and stable product than, say, 5 or 10 years ago.

It is up to the client though to accept the product or not. Let him do the leg work, or pay you to find out.

It took me many calls and a fair bit of time to research it here. It tends to be a hornets nest once you start asking safety official about legislation and requirements. It really comes down to the individual interpretation in most cases.

Hope I didn’t add more confusion to the discussion 😳

[Martin Armitage]

I have come across this many times, water based adhesives are the recommendation, but i have not found any suppliers that are willing to put this in writing. My research into this suggests that adhesives on helmets used to be a problem but not now, even so I still use an acrylic adhesive and supply no guarantees