14 Apr International body armour survey highlights security industry shortcomings
The latest research into international body armour has uncovered some serious shortcomings within the security industry.
British firm PPSS Group published its international body armour survey whitepaper, and has highlighted that many of those who need to wear it for their security profession don’t believe it’s sufficient. The research also showed that many don’t follow understand the capabilities of the armour they wear.
According to the company’s CEO Robert Kaiser, it was of great value to establish what level of knowledge security professionals have about the body armour they are either wearing themselves or purchasing for their frontline staff.
Kaiser said: “I believe it is absolutely essential that a security professional has a clear understanding of his or her body armour’s capabilities, limitations and life expectancy.
“I equally believe it is of utmost importance for managers and procurement professionals, to share all available body armour performance related information with frontline staff, enabling these men and women to make the best possible decisions in accordance with the body armour’s protection levels and capabilities.”
The survey was completed by 729 security professionals from around the world, and discovered that 39% of participants stated the information given to them about the body armour they are wearing was not sufficient. This means it was not explained to them appropriately what levels of protection their body armour is actually offering, or indeed not offering.
Additionally, 45% of participants stated they were not aware of the fact that body armour performance levels in general are only being certified for a limited period of five years. The whitepaper also highlighted the need for body armour to provide certified ‘impact’ or ‘blunt force’ protection, after it has been established that 83% of security professionals shared the fact they have suffered from severe bruising during physical confrontation.
The current landscape for security professionals was also uncovered as being rocky. The survey unveiled high levels of physical abuse towards security professionals, with 78% of those stating that they have been assaulted on duty, many of which several times.