Football helmets for professional, collegiate and high school athletes will now have to be tested by a third party in order to certify they meet safety standards. Previously, equipment suppliers certified their own products.

The details of that change were announced Friday at an industry conference in Phoenix. The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment sets the rules for how to test helmets for safety. The standards are required by professional, college and high school governing bodies.

By November, football, lacrosse and baseball helmets will need to go through the certification and audit process to assure the helmets meet the safety requirements.

“We just decided it was necessary,” said Mike Oliver, the director of the standards organization. “We wanted to make sure that our standards maintained integrity. We wanted to make sure that when a mom or a dad or a player saw the logo on the helmet, they could have a high level of confidence that in fact the helmet is going to do what it’s supposed to do.”

The Safety Equipment Institute is the third-party organization that will test and approve the equipment. It certifies protective gear for firefighters, industrial clothing and other products.

President of SEI Pat Gleason said this is the first time the organization is taking on helmets for contact sports.

“We’re actually selecting products either from the warehouse or right off the assembly online," Gleason said. "Our auditors will be there. We’ll ask for a certain number of samples. They get packaged in a box, sealed, taped, signed and sent directly to the testing laboratory.”

Sports equipment company Riddell issued a statement saying it supports efforts to strengthen compliance with the standards.