Page 16 - Wire Rope News & Sling Technology - June 2019

continued from page 14 ball game, supplying 10,000 hard hats
Kentucky, where research and develop- to fans attending the UK/Vanderbilt
ment, new product development, mar- game to break the record for the largest
keting, and global shared resources gathering of people wearing safety hel-
collaborate to develop the next genera- mets at an event. A Guinness World Re-
tion of Bullard products and services. cord representative attended the game
Bullard has offices in Singapore and to verify the record-breaking event.
Germany, as well, to service custom- Nearly 7,500 of those in attendance
ers around the world. Bullard remains wore Bullard hard hats. This event
a global leader in personal protective achieved the distinction of having the
equipment and systems designed to most people wearing the hard hat at
help save lives. a single event and it was a great way
The 1890s were not a time we recall to help the nearby community have an
as years in which the focus was on awareness of the company’s presence –
safety, benefits or rights for workers. as well as being focused on the impor-
But with its founding in 1898, Bullard tance of worker safety as well, accord-
pioneered the protection of workers in ing to Bullard.
the nascent areas of Industrial Health
and Safety as well as work-related HEADING INTO THE FUTURE
emergencies. The company has always been in
In the ensuing decades, though pre- California before their moved in 1970
ceding construction of the Golden Gate to Kentucky. “This move to Kentucky
Bridge, there was some local area de- enabled us to be closer to more of our
bate about the wisdom of a building a customers and to take advantage of
bridge at the Golden Gate Strait – es- the fact that both FedEx and UPS
pecially from the area’s local ferry boat are located in the Blue Grass State
operators. But the use of hard hats at too,” adds Bullard. “Our factory, built
this challenging work site and count- in Kentucky in 1993, pushed us to
less others ever since has probably move our headquarters to the state.
never been questioned. Head protec- All engineering and senior leadership
tion has always been an idea whose moved to Cynthiana – a bit northeast
time has come. of Lexington and south of Cincinnati –
Bullard planned activities throughout in 1993 too.”
the year to celebrate its centennial an- The plant now employs more than
niversary of the invention of the hard 200 people who quickly realized there Edward W. Bullard redesigned the Hard
Boiled® mining helmet into a durable indus-
hat. On Saturday, January 12, 2019, were lots of opportunities for career trial hard hat for workers constructing the
the company broke a Guinness World growth with the company. Longstand- Golden Gate Bridge.
Record during halftime of the Univer- ing employees now help to leverage
sity of Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt basket- automation and technology in concert with employees and the job, according
to Wells Bullard. “New technology is
not a threat to employment opportuni-
ties but a chance to construct products
more efficiently and of higher quality.
“At the same time we eliminate ergo-
nomic challenges to increase capacity
and then to redeploy our capital to in-
crease value-added functions through-
out the organization. We are grateful
and proud to have longtime employees
– such as one woman now celebrating
her 46th anniversary with Bullard
and a half dozen people still working
with us who’ve not retired. These in-
dividuals are in our 40-Year-Club. We
also have generations of family talent
working at our plant. Daughters-in-
law, aunts, uncles, and a number of
families spanning three generations
work at Bullard. Our employees make
Bullard an awesome company. I’m
humbled to have the opportunity to
lead this company into the next gen-
eration,” said Bullard. WRN
For more information about The E.D. Bullard
Company and all of their other protective
Wells Bullard inspects hard hats in the manufacturing plant. gear products, please visit www.bullard.com.

16 Wire Rope News & Sling Technology June 2019