Factory Processor’s Bump Hat

Object Details

Description: The factory inside a large trawler like the Alaska Ocean is filled with equipment for filleting, processing, freezing, and packing enormous quantities of fish. Workers are trained in safety procedures and also wear protective headgear and earplugs as they work. While not required to wear certified safety helmets like the fishermen on the weather deck, they wear bump hats molded from high-density polyethylene for protection from minor bumps and bruises.; This yellow bump hat was worn by Thelma McFarland, a fish processor, who was working her third season aboard the Alaska Ocean in 2007. She wore it over a disposable hairnet, which covered and held her hair in place, a requirement for maintaining sanitary conditions in the factory. There are typically four factory shifts, and the bump hats are color-coded according to each shift—blue for A, yellow for B, green for C, and orange for D shift. The color-coding allows managers to quickly assess the number of workers that will be needed on extra kicker shifts. The lead managers in each area wear red bump hats.

Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 4 3/4 in x 7 1/4 in x 11 in; 12.065 cm x 18.415 cm x 27.94 cm

Associated Place: United States: Alaska; United States: Pacific Coast; United States: Washington; North Pacific; Bering Sea

See more items in: Work and Industry: Maritime; Clothing & Accessories; Work; Industry & Manufacturing; Natural Resources; On the Water exhibit
Exhibition: On the Water
Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-3984-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa