The determination of the numbers of police officers required for any police activity is an operational decision for each individual force and not one for HSE. However the force has a legal requirement to conduct a suitable and sufficient risk assessments for each type of activity, which should include consideration of the number of officers necessary to ensure the health and safety of those involved, taking into account the nature of the activity, time and location. The minimum number of officers required for any police activity should be the minimum number to ensure safety.
If there is a significant change in circumstances then the assessment must be reviewed and suitable arrangements put in place to manage the risk which may include altering the minimum number of officers required.
Body armour is PPE for the purpose of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, which relates to the assessment and provision of appropriate personal equipment to protect the individual.
For the purposes of manufacture and CE marking, body armour , helmets etc are not PPE under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 which excludes any PPE designed and manufactured specifically for use by armed forces or in the maintenance of law and order, and PPE for self defence ( aerosol canisters, personal deterrent weapons, etc). Therefore CS spray, body armour and batons are not CE marked.
The first stage in considering whether body- armour should be provided, is a risk assessment, conducted in accordance with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This requires that every employer, in this case Chief Officers, to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the risks to health and safety that his employees are exposed to at work. For police officers and operational police staff, such an assessment would need to include the risk of violence.
Where a risk cannot be adequately controlled by other means, then suitable PPE can, as a last resort, be provided. This requirement is found within Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.
The decision to issue body armour must be based on a risk assessment. If the outcome of the assessment is that body armour should be worn at all times then the force must ensure that is complied with. If the assessment indicates that it is only needed in certain circumstances then it must ensure that the distinction between times and circumstances are clearly understood and applied, which arguably is a harder issue to manage.
It is not for HSE to specify the approach taken but to review whether a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been completed and its outcome properly implemented .