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All
Forcefield products have been independently assessed and conform to the
requirements of the EU Personal Protective Equipment Directive
89/686/EEC.
The PPE Directive establishes common
technical requirements for all safety products, and is primarily
concerned with enabling free passage of such goods between Member
States. A manufacturer who claims or implies in their marketing that
their products provide a protective function is required to comply with
the legislation. At Forcefield, we have been working within both the
letter and the spirit of the legislation since day one!
The
legislation has motivated development of European Standards, providing
common technical benchmarks for a variety of sports protective
equipment. Whilst requirements for sizing, protective coverage and
impact performance differ, depending on the nature of the sport or
activity, and the extent of the hazard faced, most use similar test
procedures to evaluate the impact performance.
In
the majority of the standard tests, a mass is dropped on to a protector
so that the energy at the point of impact is a specified value. The
force transmitted through the back face of the protector is measured
and this must not exceed a further specified value. Away from the test
lab, in real life, too high a transmitted force will cause severe or
disabling soft tissue injuries and fractures. Effective protectors
which pass the European Standard tests can reduce the severity or
prevent the occurrence of such injuries.
The
Forcefield technology development team of technicians and engineers
have in excess of ten years’ experience of producing materials and
finished products which not only meet with, but comfortably exceed the
requirements of the European Standards. We also work in collaboration
with the leading test facilities and pre-eminent academics, medical
experts and technical advisors; our combined intimate working knowledge
of materials technology, product engineering and the requirements of
the standards’ testing methodologies enabling us to produce a constant
stream of new, innovative and ever more efficient products.
Many
impact protection products on the market, which are sold as separates
or fitted into the clothing you can buy off the dealers’ racks, are
often manufactured from low-grade materials which can withstand only
one impact before their protective capability is lost and, in
some
cases, such products have even been known to fall apart in normal wear.
Not of much use in the rough and tumble common in many sports and
leisure activities – the very incidents which render use of impact
protection necessary!
By comparison, Forcefield
protectors are durable, “multi-strike” products, which is why they are
specified as original equipment in many premium quality brands and are
worn by key professional sportsmen and women.
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Our
products have been certified by SATRA Quality Assurance Limited, a UK
Government-appointed testing and accreditation facility for PPE, for
their conformity to the requirements of the relevant standards and are
“CE” marked to denote their compliance with the requirements of the PPE
Directive.
Impact protection from Forcefield: proven
performance; premium protection.
How impact protection works
It
is a common misconception to believe impact protectors “absorb” energy.
In fact, to absorb the high levels of kinetic energy that are created
when, for example, a mountain bike rider or motorcyclist falls from
their bike and hits the ground would require padding very much thicker
than could actually be worn. How would you like to try riding whilst
encapsulated in a cube of foam more than a metre thick? Could a
footballer evading an opposing player, or skiers and snowboarders
weaving through the slalom, realistically function whilst wearing pads
that stand proud of their limbs by several centimetres?
How impact protectors actually work is
that they slow
the rate of delivery of transmitted forces to a less-damaging or
non-damaging rate. If someone punches you hard with their
fist it will
hurt you more than if they use the same energy to push you
away. The
punch is a sharp, sudden delivery of force; the push
is a slower, more
drawn out application.
A direct knee impact with
the hard surface of the road or ground is sharp and sudden, but a good
impact protector compresses slowly between you and the ground and
spreads out the energy over a longer time. Thus the protector
reduces
injuries. Your kinetic energy still passes to the ground, but
slowly
enough to not injure you or to dig a hole! The differences in
timescales involved are measured in milliseconds, but a millisecond is
a long time in the world of impact protection!
The
Forcefield technology development team specialises in optimisation of
materials performance with engineered product design, to bring you the
ideal combination of protection and flexibility with exceptional
comfort; all at a realistic price.
Impact protection from Forcefield:
developing tomorrow’s protection today.
www.bmf.co.uk/briefing
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