Comparing the Effects of Different Body Armor Systems on the Occupational Performance of Police Officers

Ben Schram, Robin Orr, Rodney Pope, Ben Hinton and Geoff Norris
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Ben Schram: Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Robin Orr: Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Rodney Pope: Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Ben Hinton: New South Wales Police—Health and Fitness Unit, Sydney, NSW 2150, Australia
Geoff Norris: New South Wales Police—Operational Safety and Skills Command, Sydney, NSW 2150, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-8

Abstract: Policing duties may inherently be dangerous due to stab, blunt trauma and ballistic threats. The addition of individual light armor vests (ILAVs) has been suggested as a means to protect officers. However, the addition of the extra load of the ILAV may affect officer ability to conduct occupational tasks. The purpose of this study was to determine if wearing any of three different ILAVs made by different companies with their preferred materials and designs (ILAV A, 4.68 percent body weight, ILAV B, 4.05 percent body weight, & ILAV C, 3.71 percent body weight) affected occupational task performance when compared to that in normal station wear. A prospective, within-subjects repeated measures design was employed, using a counterbalanced randomization in which each ILAV was worn for an entire day while officers completed a variety of occupationally relevant tasks. These tasks included a victim drag, car exit and 5-meter sprint, step down and marksmanship task. To compare the effects of the ILAVs on these tasks, a multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted, with post hoc pairwise comparisons using a Bonferroni adjustment. Results showed that performance in each task did not vary between any of the ILAV or normal station wear conditions. There was less variability in the marksmanship task with ILAV B, however. The results suggest that none of the ILAVs used in this study were heavy enough to significantly affect task performance in the assessed tasks when compared to wearing normal station wear.

Keywords: light armor; personal protective equipment; load; law enforcement; occupational tasks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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