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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.17

                     2001 BONUS PLAN FOR CERTAIN EXECUTIVES

                  OF BACOU USA, INC. AND BACOU USA SAFETY, INC.

                                 JANUARY 1, 2001


The Board of Directors of Bacou USA, Inc. (the "Board") has approved and adopted
a 2001 Bonus Plan (the "Bonus Plan") for certain executives of Bacou USA, Inc.
(the "Company") and Bacou USA Safety, Inc. The following is a list of the
executives who are eligible to participate in the Bonus Plan: Harvey I. Aronoff,
Jeffrey T. Brown, Barry Kadets, Winfield W. Major, John P. Montigny, Steven P.
Tolisano and Michael J. Vittoria (together the "Eligible Employees"). In order
to receive an award, an Eligible Employee must be employed by the Company or one
of its affiliates at the date of payment. The Bonus Plan will be administered by
the Compensation Committee of the Board in its discretion, and all
determinations by such Committee shall be final and not subject to appeal.
Additions to the list of Eligible Employees shall be made only upon vote of the
Compensation Committee of the Board.

Under the Bonus Plan, Eligible Employees shall be entitled to cash bonuses for
2001 in the range of 0% to 50% of salary received in 2001 based upon three
criteria:

-    A bonus of 0% to 17.5% shall be paid depending upon the compound annual
     growth rate (CAGR) of net income of the Company as provided in Schedule A
     attached hereto.

-    A bonus of 0% to 17.5% shall be paid depending upon the compound annual
     growth rate (CAGR) of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
     amortization (EBITDA) of the Company as provided in Schedule A attached
     hereto.

-    A bonus of 0% to 15% shall be paid depending upon the Executive's
     attainment of two or three personal objectives as provided in Schedule A
     attached hereto.

For this purpose, the amount of net income and EBITDA of Company for any year
shall be determined on the basis of the Company's audited financial statements;
provided, however, that actual net earnings and EBITDA shall be adjusted to
reflect operating earnings and EBITDA in a manner consistent with the methods
historically used by the Company's published sell-side analysts. For example, in
order to make meaningful comparisons from year-to-year, such methods have
excluded the effect of acquisition-related non-recurring charges and adjustments
such as the write-off of purchased in-process research and development expenses
and the step-up of inventory values to fair market value under applicable
purchase accounting rules. For purposes of the Bonus Plan, 1998 net earnings of
$25,793,000 and EBITDA of $60,614,000 shall be utilized for the base period on
which the compound annual growth rates will be determined for 2001. This will
result in a three-year CAGR for 2001.
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                                   SCHEDULE A

                     2001 BONUS PLAN FOR CERTAIN EXECUTIVES

                  OF BACOU USA, INC. AND BACOU USA SAFETY, INC.

                      BONUS FACTOR 1: GROWTH OF NET INCOME

                                        CAGR                     % BONUS
                                      ---------                  -------
      NET INCOME GROWTH               UNDER 1%                      0
      NET INCOME GROWTH               1% TO 5%                    2.5%
      NET INCOME GROWTH               5% TO 8%                    5.0%
      NET INCOME GROWTH               8% TO 12%                   10.0%
      NET INCOME GROWTH               OVER 12%                    17.5%


                        BONUS FACTOR 2: GROWTH OF EBITDA


                                       CAGR                      % BONUS
                                     ---------                   --------
       EBITDA GROWTH                 UNDER 1%                       0
       EBITDA GROWTH                 1% TO 4%                     2.5%
       EBITDA GROWTH                 4% TO 7%                     5.0%
       EBITDA GROWTH                 7% TO 10%                    10.0%
       EBITDA GROWTH                 OVER 10%                     17.5%


                       BONUS FACTOR 3: PERSONAL OBJECTIVES

Two or three projects will be identified for each executive as personal
objectives for achievement in 2001. Each objective will carry a bonus percentage
that shall be earned if successfully completed during 2001. The total potential
bonus percentage attributable to the personal objectives will be 10% in the
aggregate. The immediate supervisor of the eligible executive ("Supervisor")
shall set the objectives and communicate them in writing to Executive not later
than March 15, 2001. Following the conclusion of 2001, the Supervisor shall
propose a bonus percentage for each executive ranging between 0% and 15%, with
up to 10% depending upon the achievement of the written objectives and 5% being
discretionary depending upon executive's overall performance. The CEO of Bacou
USA, Inc. shall submit the bonus proposals for all Eligible Employees to the
Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Bacou USA, Inc. for final
determination of the amount of each executive's bonus.


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