INSPEC has been involved with the testing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for over 35 years.

Our Testing Services division operates from laboratories located in Salford, near Manchester in the north of England and in Kunshan, near Shanghai, China - providing an independent testing service for the many types of PPE shown in the menu on the left.

Our scope of testing includes all relevant international standards (ISO) and those PPE standards applicable for the markets of Europe (EN), North America (ANSI, ASTM, CSA) and Australia/New Zealand (AS/NZS). Our testing is officially recognised by SEI, the leading certification organisations in USA.  In addition, our test reports are accepted, without question, in many other countries.

As well as providing a testing service against recognised specifications, our expertise and flexibility enables us to adapt our resources to suit your bespoke requirements. This can include development testing for a new design or limited testing to support your own quality schemes. We appreciate the need for prompt results, whether it be to enable the release of a routine batch of production, or to enable you to launch your new model at the next major show.

To ensure the highest quality of testing and maximum client confidence, our laboratories have been accredited by ANAB, the leading independent third party accreditation authority in the USA.  This is your guarantee that our service is independently scrutinised by regular assessment against ISO 17025, the international standard for laboratory competence.  Click here to go to our Accreditations page.

In June 2007, September 2013, September 2016 and again in September 2019, INSPEC was appointed as the official laboratory for the UK Government, Department for Transport's, SHARP motor cycle helmet testing programme. During the many years that the programme has been running, we have tested more than 4,400 individual helmets and delivered detailed test results for over 20,000 impacts in total. INSPEC also supplied the test equipment used for the programme, including design features to ensure that the equipment is suitable for testing full face, system, open face and off-road helmet types. See our Equipment section for more information. Click here to go to the SHARP website, which gives detailed information about the programme and an animation of the tests.

INSPEC's aim is to provide an accurate, efficient and economical testing service. This is only one reason why we have been privileged to serve many of the world's major PPE manufacturers.