Prison service sourcing staff footwear

The footwear must be manufactured to a detailed specification.

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has announced a tender process to buy specially-designed shoes and boots for male and female officers. Made in UK sizes 3.5 to 14.5, The footwear will need to be lightweight, waterproof and antistatic, while featuring all-leather uppers, a breathable ventilation system, composite safety toe caps and anatomically shaped tongues with soft padding.

The tender – which closes on 4th November – also specifies that the footwear must be uniformly black in colour, have what is termed ‘good walking properties’, be suitable for wear in ‘arduous’ conditions and, importantly, contain no metallic parts.

Based on current and projected future usage, the service is expected to order a total value of EUR 1.5 million plus tax (GBP 1.3 million/USD 1.7 million) on this footwear during the next two years. The successful bidder will be expected to store the shoes and boots until they are required by the prison service, while facilitating online ordering and delivery to detention facilities around Ireland.

Fitting services will need to be provided for all 3,200 employees across the country, which may require multiple visits to certain sites. The production company will receive a list of ISP staff members, along with their shoe sizes and work locations. The manufacturer may also need to conduct fitting sessions for new IPS staff members for a period of one year, with a possible extension of this requirement for an additional 12 months.

The tender documents include design drawings of the footwear. The shoe has 27 specification details, and the ‘operational leather safety boot’ has 28 listed requirements. Manufacturers intending to win the contract will be required to provide footwear samples with their tenders.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 4 of the September 2024 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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