Plant tours are a hallmark of Manufacturing & Technology, an IndustryWeek event. In conjunction with the 2019 event, which was held in Pittsburgh, MSA Safety Inc. graciously invited conference and expo attendees to tour its Murrysville, Pennsylvania, manufacturing plant on April 1.
The manufacturer, which turned 100 years old in 2014, started in part as a result of a disastrous workplace accident. The event was the 1912 explosion at the Jed Mine in West Virginia that killed more than 80 miners as methane gas ignited. Jolted by the tragedy and recognizing the need for reliable mining safety equipment, mine engineer John T. Ryan Sr. approached a like-minded colleague, George H. Deike, and by mid-1914 the partners had started Mine Safety Appliances Co. Not to be overlooked is the early contribution of Thomas Edison, who the partners convinced to complete work on an electric cap lamp that MSA then distributed. The electric lamp replaced lamps lit by open flames, which often sparked mine explosions. Today MSA Safety manufactures a wide breadth of safety products. Its Murrysville plant makes safety products such as self-contained breathing appratus and industrial head protection products.
About the Author
Jill Jusko
Senior Editor
Focus: Operations & IndustryWeek Best Plants
Call: 216-931-9311
Follow Jill on Twitter: @JJuskoIW
Senior Editor Jill Jusko covers strategies and best practices in manufacturing operations leadership. Her coverage of operations excellence spotlights companies who have achieved world-class results in quality, productivity, cost and other benchmarks by implementing the latest continuous improvement and lean/Six-Sigma strategies. Jill also coordinates The IndustryWeek Best Plants Awards Program and Conference, which annually recognizes the leading manufacturing facilities in North America.
Jill also coordinates IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Awards Program, which annually salutes the leading manufacturing facilities in North America.
Jill has also served as the editorial project director for the IW/MPI Census of Manufacturers. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.
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