Together for added safety: uvex safety group and Mips announce collaboration
Fürth/Stockholm, April 25, 2022 – The Franconian uvex safety group and the Swedish company Mips have a common mission: they want to optimize head protection for people in the working environment.
To this end, the two companies are now announcing their collaboration. The uvex safety group will equip selected uvex work safety helmets with the Mips® safety system. This will enable the helmets to better protect not only against linear impacts and jolts, but also with the intention to reduce dangerous rotational forces in accidents. This step further expands the already successful cooperation between Mips and the uvex sports group.
Under the guiding principle of “protecting people”, uvex develops, produces and sells products and services for the safety and protection of people in the occupational, sports and leisure sectors. The production of head protection in the form of helmets and bump caps is largely carried out in Germany – all manufacturing facilities are certified according to ISO 9001:2008 – and most of the helmets carry the “Made in Germany” label, a special feature for occupational safety helmets. For Wolf Wagner, Director Product Group Management Head at uvex, the cooperation with Mips is a logical next step: “In our endeavor to provide people with the best possible protection from head to toe, it goes without saying that we constantly develop our products further and equip them with innovative systems. The unique Mips® safety system prepares our helmets even better for complex accidents and complements our portfolio perfectly.”
Mips® safety system, with focus on rotational forces in head accidents
The forces that can act on the head in accidents are enormous. Helmets are developed and tested to withstand some of these forces – but according to the test procedures developed and tested mainly for the vertical fall onto the helmet surface. But some accidents around the head are not linear, which means that rotational forces can act on the head and brain. These can be very dangerous and result in serious brain injuries. “We are very pleased that uvex is entering into this partnership with us as a major German manufacturer launching work safety helmets with the Mips® safety system in the name of worker safety,” says Olof Rylander, Sr Business Developer Safety at Mips.
Based in Stockholm, Mips is the market leader in helmet-based safety and currently works with 143 helmet manufacturers worldwide. Mips® stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System. This safety system consists of a low-friction layer that is built into helmets and is designed to provide additional protection against injuries caused by rotational motion in the event of an accident. The Mips® safety system is modelled to imitate the cerebrospinal fluid – our natural protective system – which allows the brain to move relative to the skull. Accordingly, the safety system allows a movement of 10-15 millimeters between helmet and head in all directions – with the intention to help redirect the rotational forces acting on the head in case of certain oblique impacts.
The first uvex helmets equipped with the Mips® safety system will be the uvex Pheos S-KR Mips (available from June 2022) and the uvex Pronamic Alpine Mips (available from August 2022). More models with the Mips® safety system will follow.
The importance of head protection in the work environment
In Germany, there were 38,779 reportable occupational accidents involving a head injury (excluding eye injuries) in 2020 alone.1 A reportable accident is one in which the employee is unable to work for at least three days as a result. The head was thus the third most frequently injured body part after the upper and lower extremities with a share of 7.6%. In 2020, for example, injuries to the head were the cause of about 40% of all fatal accidents. The most common causes, according to a study published in 20212: those affected hit their heads through their own uncoordinated movements (20%), were hit by a falling object (17%) or fell to a lower level (15%).
About the uvex group
The uvex group unites four companies under one roof: the uvex safety group, the uvex sports group (uvex sports and ALPINA), the Filtral group (Filtral and Primetta) and Protecting People GmbH for the B2C business. The uvex group is represented by 49 branches in 22 countries and produces by conviction with a focus on Germany. 60 percent of the nearly 3,000 employees (as of FY 2020/21) are based in Germany. uvex is a global partner to top international sports as an outfitter to countless top athletes. The guiding principle of protecting people is both a mission and an obligation. To this end, the uvex group develops, produces and sells products and services for the safety and protection of people in the professional, sports and leisure sectors.
Further information: www.uvex-safety.de
The Mips company
Mips specializes in helmet-based safety and is a market leader in this field. The Mips® safety system is based on an “ingredient brand” model and is sold to the helmet industry worldwide. The Mips® safety system is patented and based on 25 years of research, testing and development in cooperation with the Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. This is also where the company’s headquarter is located, with more than 60 employees in research and development, sales, marketing and administration, and the test center.
Mips currently works with 143 helmet manufacturers, the safety system is used in 833 models and was integrated in 12.6 million helmets worldwide in 2021 alone.
Further information: www.mipsprotection.com
Press contacts:
Thorsten Udet
UVEX SAFETY GROUP GmbH & Co. KG
Phone: +49 911 9736-1449
t.udet@uvex.de
Jasmin Oediger (Mips, Germany)
Rothenburg & Partner GmbH
Phone: +49 40 889 10 80
oediger@rothenburg-pr.de
Marcus Lindgren (Global)
Mips AB
Phone: +46 70-111 21 21
marcus.lindgren@mipsprotection.com
1 Statistik – Arbeitsunfallgeschehen 2020 der DGUV; https://publikationen.dguv.de/widgets/pdf/download/article/4271
2 Brolin et al. (2021) Work-related traumatic brain injury in the construction industry in Sweden and Germany. Safety Science 136, 105147; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105147