I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require that personal protective equipment procured and provided by public sector and associated bodies must comply with Standard BS 30417:2025, or an equivalent specified standard; and for connected purposes.
I bring the Bill to the House as a proud member of the GMB union. We all know the importance of personal protective equipment, which is the final defence against unavoidable risks in the workplace, but what is not always appreciated is that employees across the UK are routinely working without fit-to-form PPE, compromising safety and hindering their productivity. BS 30417, developed by the British Standards Institution, is guidance that puts fit-to-form PPE as a consideration at every stage of purchasing, supply and use. Our workforce is not homogenous: employees are not all male, 5 feet 9 and 85 kg—and even then, PPE is often designed for a taller man. Too many are given inadequate PPE whether they are preparing food, handling chemicals, building houses, healing patients or fighting fires—boots so big that they become trip hazards, gloves so large that they cannot grip properly, or high-vis jackets so cumbersome that they restrict movement.
Although some employers offer inclusive PPE, it is time for us to put our money where our mouth is. Enshrining the BSI’s new PPE standard or the industry equivalent in public procurement sends a clear message to employers and manufacturers that the future of work and PPE is inclusive. Over the past year and a half, I have met women across industries—health services, the fire service, police, armed services and engineering—and they are exasperated at poor-fit PPE and, often, the ridicule that comes with it.
Take something as simple as sizing. The smallest glove size available on the market is still too large for 86% of female hands. That is not just inconvenient and cumbersome; it is unsafe. Many women doing training drills on ladders, or handling hoses and ropes, find them impossible as the gloves are simply too big to allow for a secure grip. Running into a burning building is something that few of us would ever want to face, but our firefighters do that daily. In an attack, running towards danger is something few of us would do, but our police officers do that daily. Handling soiled linen and cleaning up bodily waste is something most of us avoid where possible, but our carers, nurses and medical professionals do that daily. One Scottish firefighter came to me with her experience of running into burning buildings, but the service did not have any female-fit fire boots. That is intolerable, and a dangerous trip hazard in a perilous situation. In basic frontline protection, we are failing women who are putting their lives on the line.
The horror stories go on. Stab vests, predominantly designed to fit men, are simply inadequate to fit the body shape of female police officers. Ordinarily, they are too big and too loose. When running, the stab vest slides up and down, hitting against their neck and chin, in an encumbrance that slows them down in moments of danger. In one case, a knife slipped under a police officer’s garment and she was hospitalised with severe stab wounds. Alternatively, officers are forced to tie them so tight that it impairs their breathing.