In February 1858, the oar-powered Southwold lifeboat capsized in heavy surf. The 15 crew wearing lifebelts were all saved but records show ‘three unfortunate gentlemen who had … neglected to put on lifebelts, lost their lives’. Technology develops but the sea remains as awesome: in 1993, Robbie Maiden (now Coxswain at Hartlepool) was also washed overboard in a lifeboat capsize. As he stared death in the face he recalls: ‘I was only a small dot in the waves but my gear kept me alive during the longest 35 minutes of my life.’ The light on his lifejacket was eventually seen by an RAF helicopter crew.

Cork, hair, rushes, air

The RNLI’s development of personal protective equipment (PPE) began early. In 1852 the Life-boat Regulations stated that lifeboats should have ‘a cork lifebelt for each of the crew’. RNLI Inspector Captain Ross Ward had carried out detailed tests to find the best materials for making lifebelts. The results showed that the most suitable design was of narrow strips of cork strung together and sewn to a strong linen or canvas belt so that the lifebelt moved with the wearer’s body. These remained in use for over 50 years.

Lifebelts made of hair, rushes and even an air case enclosed in a waterproof covering were all tested. The air models were rejected as, if punctured, there would be no residual buoyancy, which ‘would be fatal’. It took until 1992 for the RNLI and manufacturer Crewsaver to come up with a lifejacket design in which three layers of tough fabric were joined to make two parallel stoles, inflated by CO².

Defining the need

Designing any piece of marine gear that really works starts with understanding what is required in the first place. Operational specifications are crucial for all types of PPE and one of the first still on record, from 1877, is for the lifebelt. Today’s lifejacket fulfils the same functions: enough buoyancy to support the crew member and another person; little restriction of movement; hard wearing; comfortable; and quick and simple to put on.

Requirements have inevitably changed over the years. First only the cork lifebelt was de rigueur. In 1946, a boy’s essay in the Life-Boat War Bulletin stated: ‘a Life-boatman must possess great courage, a spirit of selfsacrifice and a water-proof’! The 21st century Regulations of the RNLI (the ‘Green Book’) upholds the central role of the lifejacket but also addresses many more items of equipment now available to crews and lifeguards.

There are many reasons for introducing or improving PPE: a new venture (such as bringing hovercraft to the fleet); a change in operational procedure (full-time Thames lifeboat crews can wear PPE for 12 hours at a time); one piece of equipment becoming incompatible with another (kit being too bulky to wear in enclosed wheelhouses); technology moving on (synthetic textiles becoming available); a supplier dropping out of the chain; or feedback from the crews and lifeguards themselves. After consultation with coastal volunteers, staff and various working groups, the Operations department produces a specification to include every desired property down to ‘look’ and ‘feel’. The Engineering and Supply department then draws up a technical specification, which Purchasing uses to approach potential suppliers to produce a sample.

Groundbreaking products

Much of the RNLI’s PPE is off-the-shelf or developed from manufacturers’ existing designs. Inshore crew drysuits were derived from an existing commercially available drysuit but steel toe-capped safety boots were added to meet the RNLI’s specification. Following feedback from the crews, pockets have been added to carry a waterproof notebook, an option now available to the mass market too.

Should no commercial product suit the exacting needs of the RNLI, the charity has to break new ground to find the right answer. For example, the inshore lifeboat lifejackets are an unusual combination of permanent foam buoyancy aid and manually triggered inflatable lifejacket, designed with the high likelihood in mind of these crew entering the water.

All PPE kit has to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of current legislation including the Personal Protective Equipment Directive. Lifejackets must meet the requirements of the RNLI, British Standard BS3595 and European CEN standards but, until the RNLI got involved, there was no British Standard for marine helmets. Working with Gecko, a small Cornish manufacturer of surfing equipment, the new design of crew helmet provided a first for the RNLI and a first in the world.

Ten versions have been developed since 1995: 1–4 were prototype and developmental stages, mark 5 was issued to crew, 6–9 were adaptations and mark 10, with an inflatable liner, is currently in use. Developed to achieve energy absorption and penetration resistance, the mark 10 version is tested to the PS 028:2002 standard by the British Standards Institute and is CE marked for use by persons with a head circumference of 57–62cm, the average size range for an adult male. Work is continuing to achieve a similar standard for sizes beyond this range

Trials and testing

Much time is required for testing and trials by lifeguards, crews and other coastal and training staff and volunteers before any new PPE is approved for official use. Several sets of kit can be tried by groups of people both within and without the Institution to check that its purpose, durability and even colourfast properties match the specification. Feedback even helps to shape the final specification. In the late 1980s, when the then familiar orange foul-weather clothing was replaced by new kit in ‘traffic yellow’, this had undergone independent testing and evaluation by the RAF’s Institute of Aviation Medicine, at Farnborough.

As fabrics and garment engineering develop ever more quickly, the RNLI is engaged in a continuous research programme, working with manufacturers and other professionals across the worldwide maritime industry. Together they ensure all new advances, designs and materials have been proven in a range of climatic conditions.

Vendor evaluation

Once potential suppliers have been identified it’s not always the cheapest product that seals the deal. Marc Pautz, RNLI Buyer says: ‘Where more than one supplier can provide the required product, a competitive tender is carried out taking into account price, lead times, quality, reliability, capacity, willingness to do business and more. The Purchasing department regularly visits suppliers, both old and new, to assess, audit and keep abreast of manufacturing changes and technical advances.’

Operating procedures

Once a particular item of PPE is formally adopted, a standard operating procedure is produced before that PPE is introduced to the ‘front line’. This describes the item, how to operate, adjust, wear and use it, when it must be worn, storage, inspection and maintenance of it and any specific safety precautions. (With items of kit that require no specialist operating procedure, for example jackets and trousers, the manufacturers’ instructions are generally adequate.)

All new crew members and lifeguards need to show they can ‘select and use protective safety equipment’. This forms part of their competencebased training at the start of their probationary period and covers the importance of correctly wearing PPE and their personal role in maintaining it.

Lessons learned

It is hoped that crews will never have to test products to their absolute limits but, when they do, lessons are learned from their experiences. In 2004, three crew and two divisional assessor– trainers carried out an onboard exercise including emergency stops and high speed turns.

One of the assessors lost his grip, went overboard and was struck on the head by the propeller. His helmet split and he suffered a hairline fracture of the skull and a scalp wound that required 30 stitches. But his helmet had worked. Without its protection his injuries would have been far worse. The detailed investigation into this incident provided valuable ‘lessons learned’ that were issued to all lifeboat stations and lifeguard units.

This approach has been used for over 100 years. In the early 1900s, following the tragic loss of 17 crew at Rye Harbour, a Board of Trade inquiry was set up. Exhaustive investigations concluded that the kapok lifebelts had fulfilled the purpose for which they were designed. (See more about this incident on page 52.)

Maintain or replace

Maintenance has always been recognised as ‘indispensable to secure the permanent efficiency’ of the equipment. In 1877, three lives were lost, attributable it is believed to the breaking of the strings of lifebelts. The RNLI Committee requested that coxswains would ‘severally impress the great importance of their frequent examination of the strings of the life-belts ... and if much worn, or of having suffered injury from damp, it should at once be replaced ... being careful to sew on the new string in the strongest manner.’

Today, a stringent programme of planned maintenance is carried out on all PPE that includes post-recovery, 2-weekly, monthly, 3-monthly and annual checks. Lifejackets have a major service annually and a proportion is tested monthly to assess the consistency of rate of inflation in a joint project with Crewsaver and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

PPE may need to be replaced due to biological or chemical contamination, damage, natural wear and tear, and the ageing effects of UV radiation and salt water affecting both its functionality and the image portrayed to the public – shabby gear does not inspire confidence!

Although not the overriding factor in all cases, costs do have a bearing on decisions to purchase new or refurbish. Sadly it is often economically unviable to refurbish kit rather than replace it but a ‘throughlife management plan’ is being developed that will properly assess the economies, maintenance and servicing costs, and end-of-shelf life for each new bit of kit.

Fashion statement?

The RNLI has been criticised from time to time, even by its own crews, for being slow in adopting modern designs and techniques. The leisure sailing market will see kit change every year with fashion playing a big part, but lifeboat crews have more important concerns. In 1881 the Ramsgate Coxswain said: ‘A cork jacket, even when a man stands upright, isn’t calculated to improve his figure, and ... you may guess ... what a rum heap of odds and ends we looked.’

Any decision to change clearly entails a major undertaking and will be expensive due to the quantities involved and the logistics of resupply. The safety of crews and lifeguards is of paramount importance, both morally and legally, which means that no new design or equipment can be adopted until it has been proven. Reaching quantity production can therefore take 4–5 years.

Head of Prevention and Lifeguards, Peter Dawes, says: ‘The introduction of lifeguards into the RNLI only 7 years ago brought with it new challenges including finding new PPE.’ ‘Slip, slap, slop and wrap’ is the order of the day to reduce the risk of exposure to the Sun (that’s shirt, hat, sunblock and sunglasses); wetsuits, rash vests and swimwear protect against the wet environment; and jackets, hats and tracksuits protect against the cold. Buoyancy aids and the same helmets as used on lifeboats are also provided for operating some craft and vehicles.

An artificial surf reef at Boscombe, Dorset, planned for completion by the end of 2008, will place greater demands on the lifeguard service locally. The season might extend from 5 months to an all-year service thereby introducing the need for Winter PPE.

Challenging convention

Major advances in technology can challenge convention but the RNLI is unafraid, regularly reviewing what is best for its lifesaving volunteers and staff. Purchasing will always be looking for improvements and better deals and, when appropriate, new specifications are drawn up. Currently, inshore drysuits and inshore and allweather lifejackets, which have been part of PPE for over 15 years, are under review, as are the still relatively new Tamar class internal intercom system and cordless headsets.

But the essential task that PPE performs is the same today as it was in 1877, ‘when every care and precaution have been taken that human forethought can suggest, the work of the lifeboat crews [and the lifeguards] must still too often be one of extreme peril’. Hugh Fogarty, Head of Fleet Operations, concludes: ‘Ours is a business with inherent risks but through the wearing and correct use and maintenance of protective equipment we can eliminate those risks that are unnecessary and limit the potential of those we cannot escape.’