Background

A football helmet manufacturer was developing a novel protective padded headgear for non-tackle football.

Services Provided

Rimkus was retained to assist with product design guidelines, research validation, and communication of product safety over the course of the development and production of the headgear, including:

• Reviewing scientific research on the nature, mechanism, and incidence of head impacts and head injuries in non-tackle and comparable non-helmeted team sports
• Conducting a comparative analysis of equipment regulations across other sports with padded headgear
• Assisting the manufacturer in conducting and publishing research on head impacts incidence and locations during non-tackle football games
• Analyzing and publishing a research paper on historical emergency department data from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (US CPSC NEISS) database to estimate head and face injury risk from non-tackle football compared to other non-helmeted sports
• Surveying potential users across several geographical regions to assess their understanding of padded headgear and its limitations
• Developing and evaluating product safety information for the headgear with typical athlete users
• Developing online safety briefing information for the manufacturer’s website to educate consumers on safety risks in non-tackle football and the purpose of padded headgear