A priority focus for NOCSAE has been the development of a football helmet standard to limit rotational accelerations involved in many concussions. The revised football helmet standard, which was finalized in 2017, utilizes a complex software program to collect helmet performance data during pneumatic ram testing. On June 15, 2018, the software developer advised NOCSAE that an error in one of the data analysis algorithms, which occurred when using a specific version of the software system, caused some of the data to be reported inaccurately. The inaccurate data related to the rotational acceleration results that are the basis of the revised standard. As a result of this development, the NOCSAE Standards Committee voted to postpone the effective date of the revised football helmet standard, which had been scheduled for November 2018.
After investigating the issue further and ensuring the software issues were resolved, the NOCSAE Standards Committee reconvened on Aug. 14, 2018 to vote on a revision to the specified impact recording software to be used in testing. It was also agreed that the effective date of the revised football helmet standard would be moved to November 2019.