A personal protection system, the system including: a helmet (32, 180) configured to be worn on the head of an individual; an electrically powered assembly (92, 266, 268, 272) mounted to the helmet; at least one control member (120, 134, 262, 264) connected to the electrically powered assembly for regulating an aspect of the operation of the electrically powered assembly; and a garment (102, 236), the garment at least including a transparent face shield (110, 240) that is removably attached to the helmet that is positioned so that, when the garment is attached to the helmet, the face shield located in front of the face of the individual; characterized in that: the garment includes an indicia (110a, 148a, 292, 410); a sensor (312, 404, 404a, 404b) is mounted to the helmet, the sensor being configured to monitor whether or not the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor and to assert a sensor signal indicating the presence/absence of the garment indicia adjacent the sensor; and a controller is connected to the electrically powered assembly (92, 266, 268, 272) to selectively allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly and to the sensor to receive the sensor signal, and the controller is configured to only allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly when the sensor signal indicates that the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor. a helmet (32, 180) configured to be worn on the head of an individual; an electrically powered assembly (92, 266, 268, 272) mounted to the helmet; at least one control member (120, 134, 262, 264) connected to the electrically powered assembly for regulating an aspect of the operation of the electrically powered assembly; and a garment (102, 236), the garment at least including a transparent face shield (110, 240) that is removably attached to the helmet that is positioned so that, when the garment is attached to the helmet, the face shield located in front of the face of the individual; characterized in that: the garment includes an indicia (110a, 148a, 292, 410); a sensor (312, 404, 404a, 404b) is mounted to the helmet, the sensor being configured to monitor whether or not the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor and to assert a sensor signal indicating the presence/absence of the garment indicia adjacent the sensor; and a controller is connected to the electrically powered assembly (92, 266, 268, 272) to selectively allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly and to the sensor to receive the sensor signal, and the controller is configured to only allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly when the sensor signal indicates that the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor. the garment includes an indicia (110a, 148a, 292, 410); a sensor (312, 404, 404a, 404b) is mounted to the helmet, the sensor being configured to monitor whether or not the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor and to assert a sensor signal indicating the presence/absence of the garment indicia adjacent the sensor; and a controller is connected to the electrically powered assembly (92, 266, 268, 272) to selectively allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly and to the sensor to receive the sensor signal, and the controller is configured to only allow the actuation of the electrically powered assembly when the sensor signal indicates that the garment indicia is adjacent the sensor.