| Project Nr.: | 5.2.5 |
| Title: | Test and evaluation of Personal Protective Equipment |
| Description: | Perform PPE blast tests according to the CEN Workshop Agreement on Test and Evaluation of Protective Equipment (CWA 15756:2007) |
| Aim: | To experimentally validate the CEN Workshop Agreement on Test and Evaluation of Protective Equipment (CWA 15756:2007) and to produce data on the blast performance of PPE equipment |
| Request: | User community, UNMAS |
| Category: | Personal Protection |
| Type: | Test and Evaluation |
| Equipment: | ROFI face mask |
| Development: | COTS |
| Time Frame: | 2008-07-01 to 2008-11-30 |
| Place: | SWEDEC (Sweden) |
| Lead Nation: | Sweden |
| Partners: | Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA) |
| Status: | Archived |
| Comments: | |
| Results/Conclusions: | The second series of blast tests on the ROFI face mask took place at the end of November 2008 and followed a previous trial executed in October 2007 (ITEP Project 5.2.3). After the November 2007 trial was concluded and reported, it was realised that the explosive charge which had been used (140 g TNT equivalent) was not equivalent to the charge specified in the CWA (240 g TNT equivalent). The current trial is a repeat with the correct explosive charge, and with the new slightly modified ROFI face mask. The test report of the second blast trial was published in December 2008. While the first series of blast tests produced satisfactory performance results, the second test series showed that the tested PPE did neither withstand the blast, nor the secondary fragments and heat. Questions also surfaced about the representativeness of the simulated mine as stipulated by the CWA 15756:2007, and further methodology tests are recommended in order to make the results obtained from CWA tests more representative of what happens in minefield operations. |