Numerous homeland security professionals, police and prison officers have suffered from severe cut wounds sometime, during physical confrontations, and I believe cut resistant clothing can help protect them.

From the point of the employer, injuries of this type can often lead to legal, moral and financial repercussion. From the point of the injured professional, and depending on the severity of such injury, it can often lead to long lasting emotional scars, ongoing distress or in very serious cases even post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Most common PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) or Cut Resistant clothing used by the above sectors do not offer sufficient cut protection.

However, many frontline professionals have long asked for better slash and cut protection, and a solution has just been launched.

High performance cut resistant fabrics, such as Cut-Tex® PRO have now been developed, offering ISO 13997:1999 Blade Cut Resistance Level 5 (the highest possible), EN 388:2003 Blade Cut Resistance Level 5 (the highest possible) and ASTM F-1790 Level 4.

Please view our Cut-Tex® PRO Presentation

This type of fabric does exactly what was needed in order to design, develop and manufacture cut Resistant Clothing, which will help to protect those who serve and reduce the risk of workplace violence related cut injuries. Cut resistant clothing has now been made user friendly, comfortable and 100% concealable.

The Reality

Attacks on frontline professionals are occurring rather frequently. One unprovoked attack on prison officers at Frankland High Security Prison inDurham,UK, left one prison officer severely injured after one of his auxiliary arteries was slashed during the incident. He luckily survived.

A female police officer was brutally slashed during Notting Hill Carnival in London,UK on 28th August 2011.

There are many more reports of domestic frontline professionals being slashed or suffering from major cuts. Reports of this well documented type of assaults are readily available on the internet or security and law enforcement related publications.

Many frontline professionals by instinct will lift their arms and hands during a potential hostile situation, in order to protect the face and head. This is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact it is absolutely normal, and only highly trained Special Forces soldiers would respond differently due to many years of extensive training. However, we must acknowledge that this ‘normal’ and subconscious action would expose an extremely vulnerable area under your arms. A cut, injuring the auxiliary artery under your arms, can lead to rapid blood loss and even death.

Prison, police and security officers often receive cut wounds along the forearm or open hand. These wounds are the most common injuries and classed as ‘defensive wounds’, often seen as evidence the wearer was protecting him or herself, rather attacking the opponent.

We have to accept the fact that all frontline professionals dealing with potentially hostile members of the public or intoxicated individuals are obviously working in a higher risk environment. We believe that a new generation of cut resistant clothing made out of Cut-Tex® PRO will improve their personal safety and reduce the risk of workplace violence related injuries.

Professionals, working within mental health care facilities and other related sectors, such as severe learning disabilities, challenging behaviour, special needs or autism, are also frequently subject to a type of assault (mostly bite related), often resulting in cut or bite related injuries, which could easily be prevented. Cut-Tex® PRO will not prevent the potential risk of severe bruising, but it does drastically reduce the risk of human teeth penetrating, and subsequently reduce the risk of infection and bacterial cross contamination.

The Solution

I strongly believe that personal protective clothing, especially cut resistant clothing, is something that can effectively reduce the risk of workplace violence related injuries, in the context of this article cut related injuries.

Cut resistant body armour base layer for example make a lot of sense. The area, which is covered by most body armour can be made out of breathable Coolmax® or similar fabric to make the wearing of body armour even more comfortable and bearable in hot and humid conditions. However, the exposed area, such as under the arm, the arms and the side of the upper body can be covered, made out of Cut-Tex® PRO cut proof fabric, offering the wearer exceptional cut protection during a situation where self defence or physical action is required.

A number of very specific areas of our body are at notable risk. Our throat, which harbours the carotid artery is certainly among the most at risk locations of our body. A cut through the carotid artery would most likely result in death. The radial artery can be found in our wrists, which often is subject to cuts during self defence or whilst protecting our face. The femoral artery is a general term comprising a few large arteries in the thigh. Cutting of the femoral artery would lead to a massive loss of blood within e very short period of time. I believe protective clothing, shielding these three main arteries should be available to all professionals dealing regularly with aggressors and potentially hostile situations.

My emphasis would be to design and manufacture cut resistant clothing that is none-aggressive or none-confrontational looking. We certainly want to enable those professionals to let their personality shine, use their diplomatic and interpersonal skills in order to defuse the risk of any potential escalation without giving away that protective clothing is being worn. We do not want them to look like ‘the aggressor’. Personal protective clothing just needs to ‘be there’ in the background, on stand by, ready to protect and perform when things go wrong.

We all know… violence can sometime erupt within seconds, often without any prior warning signs and without any fault of the law enforcement, security or mental heath care professional. Going back to the office and putting on some appropriate gear is not always a realistic option, hence cut resistant clothing should be comfortable enough to be worn at all times.

Cut resistant clothing made out of 100% Cut-Tex® PRO is now available and can be designed around specific operational risks, threats and operational duties.

For protective clothing please view the entire range of PPSS cut resistant garments on the PPSS website

PPSS Group, the company behind Cut-Tex® PRO is also renowned for ultra light and extreme thin covert ballistic vests and the most robust and durable stab vests in the world.

If you wish to speak with us, please dial  +44 (0) 845 5193 953 or email: [email protected]

For intellectual property/copyright reasons, Cut-Tex PRO labelled products cannot be sold and delivered to Germany!