Best Safety Helmet for Construction Site (>7 Years)

A safety helmet is a basic requirement for anyone who works at the construction site. A beginner may be unsure of which safety helmet to buy since there are many different brands and qualities in the market. So, I decided to show you the helmet that I’ve used for the past many years.

I live and work in Malaysia. Hence, my safety helmet may or may not be available in other regions of the world. Nevertheless, I may find the same products and put a link so that you can check them out. Otherwise, I may search for equivalent products and also put a link for you (maybe).

I’ve lost my safety helmet once but then, I bought back the same one. So, let’s review the safety helmet that absorbed all my sweat for many years.

My Safety Helmet

For more than 7 years, I’ve been using the PROGUARD Advantage 1 safety helmet (click to view on Shopee). I’ve banged into ducts and pipes multiple times and it protected me every single time.

It was a safety helmet that was bought by a professional engineer (PE) from the first company that I worked for. That time I was following him to visit a retrofit site and I have no PPEs and I had no clue.

So, he brought me to a nearby local hardware store and get me a helmet. Never thought that the helmet will follow me for so many years.

If you notice that my safety helmet is very clean, that is because I lost the very first one about 1 year ago during my site visit at Penang. This is the second one.

How I lost my first safety helmet

I was so unlucky that the bomba lift was out of service the day I decided to do a site visit. So, I had to take the stair up 10 floors to the flat roof to check out my equipment.

Then it’s lunch time. I walk down the stair and got back to my car not far away from the construction site. But then, I noticed that I was missing something. Shit! It’s my helmet.

It was a really hot day and I got exhausted from all the stair climbing exercise. Plus, I’m not going back to the site anymore as I’m done with the inspection and I was heading back to Kuala Lumpur that day.

So, I decided to buy a new one and guess what? I bought the same safety helmet. That’s why you don’t see all the battle marks on my safety helmet.

It’s more comfortable than other helmets that I’ve tried on

The best thing about my safety helmet is that it is very comfortable. If you ever worked on a construction site, you’ll know that sometimes you forgot your helmet and then you borrow it from other people. That’s me and I find other helmets are not as comfortable as my one.

I feel that the forehead sponge of my helmet is much thicker than other people’s one. Furthermore, the entire helmet feels softer but it’s not necessarily a bad thing for safety helmets to be soft. In fact, it actually helps to absorb the impact better.

I happened to have another safety helmet with me. Thus, I did a side-by-side comparison on the forehead sponge. Here is the photo:

You can really see and feel the difference, especially when you got all sweated because the sponge will shrink a little bit. If your safety helmet has a very thin forehead sponge, it’s basically rubbing your forehead all the time.

It’s very easy to adjust the tightness

Another thing that I like the most is how easily I’m able to adjust the tightness of my safety helmet. I got really frustrated trying to adjust other helmets. Some of them are flimsy and others are just bad design in my opinion.

https://youtu.be/bt-muZs5sTM

You can see how solid is my helmet compared to a random helmet. Furthermore, the locking mechanism is also better compared with other helmets that use pins to lock. Those pins can fall off easily and loosen the helmet.

Here are some photos of the adjust band:

It absorbs impact really well

There were multiple occasions where I stood up and hit something with my head. Luckily, I had my safety helmet on and I didn’t feel any pain or scratch or anything. The bang was loud but I was not injured at all.

I think my helmet is slightly softer and because of that, it absorbs impact really well. I did not feel a thing after hitting a solid 6″ condenser pipe.

I don’t want to wear the helmet and shoot a video at the site to show you how good it is. But, I did some fun tests to show you how it performs and you decide it for yourself.

https://youtu.be/slGfSb1lOZY

Obviously, I’m not a helmet expert but what I see is my helmet bounce more than the random helmet. I keep saying random helmet is because it really has no brand or anything on it. It is supposed to have at least a SIRIM certification sticker.

I was shocked when I see something fell out of my helmet during the fall test but it turns out is the black color thing which I have no idea what it is for. Maybe to block rainwater?

I also notice that my helmet is about twice as thick as the random helmet. Honestly, you can feel it on your hand when a helmet is thicker. The moment I pick up the random helmet, I can feel that my helmet is better.

It’s a SIRIM certified quality helmet

It is very important that you get a SIRIM certified helmet if you are living in Malaysia. Every safety helmet should have a certification to verify its quality. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many workers wearing a helmet that is not certified. Those cheap helmets are not going to save you when a brick falls on your head.

Conclusion

So, if you ask me, I will recommend my safety helmet which is the PROGUARD Advantage 1 safety helmet (click to view on Shopee). In Malaysia, you can get it from any hardware store. Alternatively, you can buy it from Shopee or Lazada, it’s not very expensive only.

More photos of my helmet: