Vinyl suitable for use for hard hat stickers

[Gavin Heffernan]

Hi David I only use 1 type of vinyl which is LG(LD3910G) which i use on the
site boys hard hats,with no problems. hope this helps.

[John Harding]

Gavin – You say you have used it without problem but I guess nothing has fallen on anyones head yet 😮 David is asking if there is a vinyl which will not weaken the material and a google search reveals the material you recommend is a solvent adhesive so it may or may not be ok we dont know for sure.

David try searching the boards as this has cropped up before re applying graphics to motorcycle crash helmets which may help answer your question.

John 😀

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Hi guys, Metamark do a specialized High Tack printable purely for unstable surfaces such as PVC…… have va look at thier web site, Iv’e used it for hard hats in the past no problems at all

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[John Harding]

Mo I havent looked at the web site but as before Mo is it warrantied not to weaken the hat (?)

John

[David Hammond]

Is there such a vinyl?

"The answer is yes you can add stickers – but only those stipulated by the hardhat manufacturer, as the adhesive used on the stickers will have been tested for suitability with their hard hat. If you simply place any sticker into a hard hat you run the risk that you could reduce the structural strength of the hard hat, if there is a reaction between the sticker adhesive and the hard hat component. You would also waiver any warranty of the hard hat manufacturer if you do not use their stickers. Essentially you would be altering the structure of the hard hat, the same as if you decided to paint it a different colour or drill a hole in it. You should only follow the manufacturer’s guidelines."

Taken from the HSE Website http://webcommunities.hse.gov.uk/connect.ti/construction/messageshowthread?threadid=26478

I’ve just done these 100 small stickers for another printer to go on hard hats and never really gave it a thought.

[John Harding]

So theres your answer David (Bilton) contact the helmet manufacturer and only use what they recommend to avoid voiding the warranty 😀

John

and David let us know what the answer is please 😀

[Phill Fenton]

Yes this question has come up a few times over the years (I’ve been asked it myself) – Over zealous H&S officers losing perspective as usual…

If the adhesive on a vinyl sticker was likely to affect the integrity of a hard hat what must it do to a vehicles paintwork 🙄

Tell your client, Phill says, he’s a numpty 😕

[David Hammond]

it might not be the client being over zealous.

Insurance companies looking for a way out of a claim
Compensation claims from injured parties

If the company (not the worker) put the sticker there and it ‘could’ have or shouldn’t have been there, surely its their fault?

I think all the h+s crap is a bit ott, mainly common sense.

Sticker or no sticker a ton of bricks landing on your head isn’t going to do you any favours. Unlike a van, you can’t just fix a corpse up and send him on his way.

Sadly people are just looking for someone to blame to make a few £’s, and now companies need to protect themselves from this ‘threat’.

[Shane Drew]

The requirement is only stipulated to cover all legal bases, and is covered by a common sense approach..

I do a lot of these and use 3M removable adhesive with no issues at all. Fully solvent adhesives may ring some bells with some suppliers, but a non permanent adhesive works within the confines of the manufactured requirements of Hard Hats. That is the law here, I’d imagine it is the same there.

Hi Tack adhesives are for low impact surfaces, but hard hats don’t usually come under that category.

I’ve also used 3M CR reflective material with removable adhesive with no issues either. Fully solvent adhesives are more likely to degrade the surface over time, which is another reason 3M’s 2 year removable guarantee makes the manufacturers happy, meaning it doesn’t bite into the surface like full solvent adhesives are designed to do.

Hope that helps anyway.

[David Bilton]

Thanks everyone for their replies. It just looks like that it’s a grey area and that you’re not likely to get anything in writing from the vinyl manufacturers. I guess that the waterbased adhesives will be the best way forward if you want to be as sure as you possible can be that the adhesive will not effect the plastic of the hard hat. I’ll explain the situation to my customer and let him decide whether he still wants the stickers or not.

Thanks again.

David

[John Harding]

David youve missed the point, it is not a grey area at all, if you want to sleep easy at night the only way foward is to contact the hard hat manufacturer to find out what vinyls are accepted, get everything in writing or refuse the work.

John

[Shane Drew]

I know what you say John, but I leave it up to the client to decide usually. I get them so sign off, agreeing that I accept no responsibility, and go from there. Seriously though, it is just a legal requirement, and I doubt any modern adhesive will damage the helmet. 20 years ago maybe, but I doubt any good quality material will fall into that category.

[David Bilton]

My customer spoke to the hard manufacturer (Centurion) and they say that labels made using a Fascal product are approved for use with their helmets. I am waiting for a spec sheet to be emailed to me, but I suspect that it will be Fascal Supertack which has an acrylic adhesive. I have spoken to Robert Horne regarding this material and they say it is a screen print product. Has anyone had any experience of digitally printing this material?

Another thing that Centurion mentioned, is that they are happy to test the suitability of a sticker if you send them a sample.

[Jamie Wood]

We print a lot of Avery Supertack on our Mimakis. Print quality is probably not as good
as a dedicated digital vinyl, but depending on the end use, we find it is usually OK.

Takes a little more heat than digital vinyl we find.

[Shane Drew]

I print on screen print stock all the time. Mainly 3M but it shouldn’t really matter the brand.