![](https://emergencyservicestimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ESS-Button-resized.png")
The National Protective Security Authority is the UK government’s national technical authority for physical and personnel protective security and it has released new training tools for operational staff focused on helping the emergency services identify the signs of homemade explosive manufacture when entering people’s homes.
Showcasing the training tools for the first time at The Emergency Services Show, the NPSA was keen to demonstrate to visitors how to spot the difference between a messy kitchen and a potential bomb-making factory.
Staff on the NPSA stand at the show asked visitors to picture a scene.
You enter a room in disarray; numerous bottles are strewn about the floor, jam jars and plastic boxes litter the shelves, books and printed documents are piled high in the corner and the countertop is covered in coffee filters and bowls. Is this simply a messy home or is something more sinister going on?
Most of us will have the above items in our homes and the presence of such items is nothing to worry about. However, if these were found alongside other chemicals, recipes and evidence of processing e.g. mixing/filtering, then it may be a sign of something more concerning.
The free training tools aim to increase emergency service workers’ awareness of homemade explosives (HME) and chemical agent manufacture to enable them to conduct their work safely. The tools are available to emergency service operational staff at all levels.
Danger HME video
The NPSA has also produced a new film, working in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, London Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Resilience Unit. It is designed to help police, fire and ambulance staff to recognise the signs of a HME and learn how to respond.
The video depicts a couple out shopping, receiving parcels and cooking in their kitchen; a phone call starts to reveal something more suspicious, and things soon start to escalate.
Staff in all emergency services can access this new video through Resilience Direct, with the NPSA recommending that the film is shown to all staff as part of initial and refresher training. It is not publicly available and only for use by blue light organisations.
Know Your Chemicals app
The identification of chemicals is something that the NPSA is also concerned about and as a result, has created the Know Your Chemicals app (replacing the booklet formats) as an accessible reference guide to help emergency service staff to identify whether chemicals at a scene are related to HME or chemical agent manufacture.
The app contains details such as form, colour, odour, hazards and legitimate uses for each chemical. It also highlights where a chemical is regulated under the Poisons Act (CEPPR) or the Chemical Weapons Act (CWA) and users can create logs of multiple chemicals, to enhance assessments of what is found at a scene.
There is also a dedicated learning section, where users can review photos of clandestine laboratories to learn what different chemical processes look like and read about relevant legislation.
The app is available for download from the Google and Apple app stores and NPSA recommends that it is only downloaded to work-issued devices.
Virtual Reality package
To enhance and complement the training, the NPSA has also created a virtual reality (VR) package about homemade explosives. It allows the user to take a walk through a typical residential property and interact with objects and learn about their significance on the way.
Afterwards, users can review the selection and see what may have missed. This can be done individually or in a group.
The VR package includes introductory videos covering a background to the subject and can be used as a standalone training package for all emergency service personnel or as refresher training for specialist roles who have previously received training in this area.
For more information on NPSA’s training and guidance products and for enquiries, visit the Emergency Services Guidance page on the NPSA website.