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The Home Office and police chiefs must continue to invest in researching and supplying police officers with body armour and uniform which is fit for the future, the National Uniform Co-lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has said.
Speaking during a recent PPE webinar with the Emergency Services Times (EST), Belinda Goodwin said, “We must see if there is more we can do to make it a more acceptable experience for officers who are sometimes in body armour for up to 12 hours a day – for example, during the unrest we have seen this year.”
PFEW is currently in the early stages of working with Loughborough University to help its researchers gather evidence on how police uniform should look moving into the future, , taking into account factors such as summers now reaching 40C.
“With the way the weather is changing it is something we need to look at,” explained Belinda.
“We have been approached by academics at Loughborough University to do some work around this, to look at future uniform, especially with body armour around the right weights, the right shapes and also heat.
“It is really good to work with academics to see if we have got the right fabrics underneath our personal protective kit.”
The study is expected to run for more than a year and will incorporate pilots and human factor testing.
Fit for purpose PPE
PPE withstanding hazardous and noxious substances was also discussed during the webinar, where Belinda highlighted how there has been a rise in ‘acid’ attacks. Latest statistics show there has been a staggering 75 per cent increase in these crimes over the past year.
“We of course have Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear responders to handle these incidents, however, frontline officers do not always know what they are walking into unless they are given intel ahead of time,” she said.
When asked if women going through the menopause are supported adequately when it comes to uniform, she said: “In a nutshell, forces are not there yet. There has been an ongoing discussion with the Defence Science and Technology Group around cooling vests for under shirts, but it was shown it made them hotter as it’s another layer.”
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