Our Vision
To be the world’s leading provider of safety solutions that protect workers when life is on the line. We pursue this vision with an unsurpassed commitment to integrity, customer service and product innovation that creates exceptional value for all MSA stakeholders.
Business of MSA
MSA is in the business of developing, manufacturing and selling innovative products that enhance the safety and health of workers and protect facility infrastructures throughout the world. Critical to MSA’s mission is a clear understanding of customer processes and safety needs. MSA dedicates significant resources to research which allows the company to develop a keen understanding of customer safety requirements for a diverse range of markets, including the fire service, construction, public utilities, mining, the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, HVAC, hazardous materials remediation, military, and retail. MSA’s principal products, each designed to serve the needs of these target markets, include respiratory protective equipment, portable gas detection instruments and sensors, fixed gas and flame detection systems, fall and head protection products, as well as products for eye, face and hearing protection, and thermal imaging cameras.
MSA was founded in 1914 by John t. Ryan and George H. Deike, two mining engineers who had firsthand knowledge of the terrible human loss that was occurring in underground coal mines at that time. their knowledge of the mining industry provided the foundation for the development of safety equipment to better protect underground miners. While the range of markets served by MSA has expanded greatly over the years, the founding philosophy of understanding customer safety needs and designing innovative safety equipment solutions that addresses those needs remains unchanged.
MSA is headquartered in Cranberry township, pennsylvania, with operations employing 5,300 associates throughout the world. A publicly held company, MSA’s stock is traded on the new York Stock exchange under the symbol MSA.
A New Century — A New Company Structure
On March 7, 2014, MSA completed a legal realignment of its company structure, thereby establishing a new holding company for MSA that now trades under the name MSA Safety Incorporated. As a newly formed pennsylvania corporation, MSA Safety Incorporated now serves as the parent holding company for a group of sub-holding and operating companies covering various aspects of MSA’s businesses throughout the world. the company’s charter, bylaws, board of directors, and officers, as well as the company’s nYSe ticker symbol (MSA), however, all remain unchanged.
For our shareholders, it is important to note that at the time of the realignment, each share of Mine Safety Appliances Company’s outstanding common and preferred stock was converted, on a share-for-share basis, to a share of common and preferred stock of MSA Safety Incorporated, respectively. As a result, each shareholder of Mine Safety Appliances Company became the owner of an identical number of shares of common and preferred stock of MSA Safety Incorporated and ceased to own any shares of Mine Safety Appliances Company.
As MSA embarks on its second century in business, this corporate realignment ensures MSA’s legal structure models that of a modern international manufacturing organization. In turn, the company is better positioned to realize the excellent growth potential that exists around the world, without compromising the strong equity of the MSA name and brand that has been built over the past 100 years. Details about the realignment can be found by reviewing the company’s current report on Form 8-K filed with the u.S. Securities and exchange Commission on March 7, 2014.