BA 9000 Body Armor Quality Management System Requirements were established by the

National Institute of Justice The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenil ...

as a quality standard for

body armor Body armor, also known as body armour, personal armor or armour, or a suit or coat of armor, is protective clothing designed to absorb or deflect physical attacks. Historically used to protect military personnel, today it is also used by variou ...

. It specifies the construction and assembly requirements of personal armor for federal, state, tribal and local

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

and

corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and s ...

agencies; the requirements of BA 9000 are voluntary (but it is recommended by the NIJ). Though BA 9000 was written to be in compliance with

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO ...

, the NIJ notes that a company being certified as ISO 9001 is not necessarily certified as being BA 9000-compliant. BA 9000 incorporates all of the standards of ISO 9001, but it also: * Details the procedures body armor manufacturers need to take to communication with the compliance testing program * Ensures the accountability of armor by mandating a unique identifier for each piece used * Management of work areas to reduce any adverse effects on the armor * Specifies that testing must be done at approved facilities; these facilities must be compliant with

ISO 17025 ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories is the main ISO/IEC standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. In most countries, ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard for which most labs must h ...

While certification to BA 9000 is not mandated or regulatory, its benefits include: * Reduced Testing – For manufacturers who are BA 9000 certified, testing frequency can be reduced by half. * Competitive Advantage – Certification to a standard such as BA 9000 is an indicator of a quality product. This is a great advantage in an industry where quality could be the difference between life and death. Facilities seeking to become a BA 9000 certification body must, in addition to being ISO 17025-certified, submit to yearly office and an overall audit of the management systems in place. The accreditation is normally for a period of four years.

References

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External links

BA 9000: National Institute of Justice Body Armor Quality Management System Requirements
United States Department of Justice Body armor Quality management Quality