Forestry Commission Partnership Opportunity: Developing a Range of Inclusive, Specialist Female-fit Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

The Forestry Commission are the government's forestry experts for England, and the largest land manager in the country, caring for over 250,000 hectares of woodland. We have a vision of a truly inclusive and diverse forestry sector, where all workers feel valued, safe and welcome. With this in mind, we are looking for an industry partner that shares this vision, and will work with us to create a range of specialist chainsaw PPE designed specifically for women.

The safety of our staff is our highest priority, and we take pride in supplying them with the very best PPE to keep them safe while they care for our beautiful forest landscapes.

We value equality amongst our workforce and prioritise all staff equally. 44% of our current workforce identify as female (around 630 individuals), and we are seeking a health and safety partner to help us develop a range of high-quality PPE, tailored specifically for a female fit.

We are looking for a partner to work collaboratively on initially developing four key pieces of PPE, with specific consideration for female sizing and body shape: 

Chainsaw gloves

Chainsaw boots

Chainsaw trousers

General workwear jacket

We anticipate these items will benefit Forestry Commission staff, as well as female operational staff right across the industry. We will help secure a wider route to market for these products, by promoting and endorsing them widely across our channels.

We are willing to invest up to £25,000 towards creating this range and would like to work collaboratively with a recognised industry partner on developing these designs. We are looking for a partner that shares our vision to help lead the industry towards catering for female staff, thereby attracting the very best workforce from an inclusive and diverse pool of talent.

In return, we will provide positive profile, PR and product endorsement to help our partner find as wide a customer base as possible for these new products.

Additional information: For more details see the Partnership Opportunity document. If you are interested in this partnership, please register your interest with the point of contact listed in the notice. Forestry England will be in contact after the expression of interest deadline to discuss this project further.