BA 9000

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BA 9000 is a quality management system for body armor , which was introduced in 2012 by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). It is considered a quality standard for body armor and defines the construction and assembly requirements of body armor for members of the federal, state, regional and national executive bodies and penal authorities. The requirements of BA 9000 are not mandatory, but are recommended by the NIJ. This would like to use BA 9000 to increase the control of body armor in order to better meet standards.

Requirements for a BA 9000 certification

BA 9000 was written in accordance with ISO 9001 , consequently a company certified with BA 9000 also implements the conditions of ISO 9001. However, a manufacturer who produces according to the requirements of ISO 9001 does not necessarily meet the conditions for BA 9000 certification. Thus, all standards of ISO 9001 are combined in BA 9000, but the following points are also added:

  • Detailed CTP (Compliance Testing Program) documentation (including forms, applications and standard operating procedures as well as test reports and other communication with the CTP), which are controlled documents and should be considered as a criterion for the acceptance of the product.
  • Insures liability for the armor through a unique identifier for each item. This guarantees traceability from the raw material to the end product.
  • Specification of the management system of the work areas in order to reduce negative effects on armaments.
  • Requirement that tests must be carried out in approved facilities with an ISO 17025 certification.
  • Documentation requirements related to the conservation of raw materials and construction details of the body armor.
  • Examination of the competencies of the employees with consent authority.
  • Protection of ballistic materials against harmful environmental influences (such as temperature, humidity, pollution, rough handling and UV radiation) throughout the production cycle.

In order to get BA 9000 certification, compliance with the requirements is checked by the ANSI ( American National Standards Institute ) -ASQ ( American Society for Quality ) National Accreditation Board (ANAB).

Advantages of a BA 9000 certificate

BA 9000 certification has a number of advantages:

  • Reduced test frequency: Manufacturers who are BA 9000 certified can reduce the test frequency by half (without BA 9000 certification: tests prescribed every 10 months, with BA 9000 certification: tests prescribed every 20 months). This leads to a clear reduction in the monitoring test costs.
  • Competitive advantage : Certification according to a standard such as BA 9000 indicates a high quality product. This can be a decisive advantage , especially in this industry , as quality can mean the difference between life and death here.

Before the number of surveillance tests can be reduced, the manufacturer must request a reduction in the surveillance frequency and provide evidence of BA 9000 certification to the NIJ CTP. This includes:

  • An application from an authorized representative of the production company or a person responsible for the production sites concerned
  • Copies of the applicable BA 9000 certificates

In order to permanently guarantee the confidence in the performance of a certain body armor model, it is of great importance for the manufacturer to maintain uniform processes during production (regardless of the location). As a result, the NIJ CTP will not recognize the BA 9000 certified production site for a reduction in surveillance controls unless all models are limited to production sites that are similarly certified and are in operation with a BA 9000 compliant quality management system.

BA 9000 certification bodies

Institutions that apply to become a BA 9000 certification body must submit an ISO 17025 certification, which must be submitted annually to the office, as well as a general on-site inspection of the management systems. The accreditation is usually for a period of four years. However, there are only a small number of applicants in the NIJ CTP because the certification bodies lack the financial incentive due to the cost of recognition.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JTIC - Find Compliant Products , accessed June 1, 2016
  2. ↑ BA 9000 - justnet.org , accessed on June 1, 2016
  3. ↑ https://www.justnet.org/pdf/BodyArmorFollow-UpTesting.pdf Retrieved May 30, 2016
  4. ↑ https://www.justnet.org/pdf/2014%2008%2001%20-%20CTP%20Memorandum%20BA9000.pdf Accessed June 1, 2016
  5. ↑ https://www.justnet.org/pdf/Hard-Armor-Conformity-Assessment.pdf Retrieved June 2, 2016

Web links

http://www.pjr.com/standards/ba-9000
http://anab.org/