Mine Safety Appliances, or MSA Safety Incorporated, is an American manufacturer and supplier of safety equipment designed for use in a variety of hazardous conditions in industries such as construction, the military, fire service, and chemical, oil, and gas production. Best known for its

Bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...

''Skullgard''

hard hat A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Suspensio ...

, the company’s product line includes gas monitoring and detection instruments, filter-type respirators, gas masks, breathing apparatus used by firefighters, thermal imaging cameras, firefighter helmets, ballistic body armor, military communications systems, a broad range of industrial head and fall protection products, and safety products for Do-It-Yourself consumers.The Wall Street Journal.
Mine Safety Appliances Co.
" Retrieved Feb 28, 2013.Bloomberg Businessweek.
Mine Safety Appliances Co (MSA:New York)
" Retrieved Feb 28, 2013. MSA is based in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

Cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

.Yahoo Finance.
Mine Safety Appliances Co. (MSA)
" Retrieved Jan 10, 2013. It was founded in 1914 after development of the Edison Safety Mining Lamp by mining engineer John T. Ryan Sr. and George H. Deike With help from

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

following a terrible mine explosion in West Virginia in 1912. The mining lamp was a battery-powered headlamp for miners to help prevent

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

-related explosions caused by open flame lamps. Since the turn of the 21st Century, MSA has seen record sales. Only a small portion of the company's current products involve mining related products. The company’s competitors include

Industrial Scientific Corporation Industrial Scientific Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designs and manufactures gas detection products that protect workers from hazardous conditions around the world. Key markets include utilities, chemical production, oil ...

RAE Systems RAE Systems, Inc., or RAE System by Honeywell, is a provider of wireless, gas and radiation detection instruments and systems that enable real-time safety and security threat detection to help mitigate risk, and protect workers, contractors, the p ...

and Dräger. The corporation's assets are managed through two business segments: MSA North America and MSA International. MSA has sales and manufacturing operations throughout the world and sells products to customers in more than 140 countries. While the majority of MSA's products are available only through distributors, the company does sell head, eye, ear, respiratory and body protection products to individuals through a variety of hardware and home center retail outlets.

Breathing Apparatus

Mine Safety Appliances Co. has been manufacturing oxygen breathing apparatus for decades.http://www.msanorthamerica.com/catalog/catalog502.html Their "Chemox" chemical

rebreather A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. ...

, primarily designed for use in mines, has been modified for use on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

in 1952 and 1986. They are stated to be simple in construction and operation. It is essentially a canister of

potassium superoxide Potassium superoxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KO2. It is a yellow paramagnetic solid that decomposes in moist air. It is a rare example of a stable salt of the superoxide anion. It is used as a scrubber, dehumidifier, and gen ...

connected to one-way flow valves to an air bag and thence to the user, as in Rebreathers whose absorbent releases oxygen hereinabove. There are no controls or operable valves of any kind. Breathing rate controls oxygen production. The main disadvantage is the 4-lbs canisters are good for only about 45-minutes of rapid climbing before another canister must be switched in. The canisters supply about 6 hours of sleeping oxygen.

Hard hats

MSA also produces protective

hard hats A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Suspensio ...

. The first generation, known as th
"Skullguard"
was made of reinforced

. Introduced in the 1930s it is still manufactured today. MSA went on to produce a lighter and more streamlined helmet known as the "Topgard" in the 1960s. MSA brand firefighting helmets were notably used by the

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...

and were seen regularly on 1970s TV shows. MSA continues to manufacture firefighting protective helmets and in 2000 acquired competitor, Cairns Helmets. Cairns firefighting helmets are now produced under the MSA Cairns label.

Sites

* MSA Corporate Center – Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania * John T. Ryan Memorial Lab – Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania * Murrysville, Pennsylvania –

Murrysville, Pennsylvania Murrysville, known formally by its legal name in its Charter as The Municipality of Murrysville, is designated as a home rule status community in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population ...

* Jacksonville, North Carolina –

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the 14th-largest city in North Carolina. Jacksonville is the county seat and most populous commun ...

* Lake Forest, California –

Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 20 ...

* Toronto, Ontario –

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

* Edmonton, Alberta –

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

Notes

External links

MSA's website
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies established in 1914 Rebreather makers Industrial breathing sets Mine safety 1914 establishments in Pennsylvania Companies based in Butler County, Pennsylvania