Global supplier of personnel protective equipment (PPE), MSA, is placing a renewed focus on the African mining market, noting that the standards of safety equipment within the market are something that could be improved on through a more active participation of responsible entities, such as regulatory bodies and compliant corporate bodies.

"The biggest challenge for us is price and quality," says MSA mining manager for inland branches Andre Eloff of the African market, explaining that despite MSA's efforts to retain a standard of high quality and reliability in its products, the unfortunate non-policing of legislation has led to inferior quality products coming into the market at an unfair price advantage that MSA's products cannot match.

"All products of ours comply to required standards but, unfortunately, not everyone has a view to doing things that way," says Eloff. He says that, where applicable, a levy is to be paid to the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) if a product is to be brought into the country for distribution, but that some avoid the levy altogether.

"Being part of the South African Protective Equipment Marketing Association (Sapema), we need to play by the rules," he says. "But elsewhere in Africa, it is a big problem." He explains that, predominantly, the large mining companies will uphold regulations and apply standards in their practices and products. This is because most of these companies are rooted abroad in first-world regions where such regulations are more closely policed.

"But, then again, many of these inferior quality products are bought directly from places like China, and our challenge is in competing directly with these," adds Eloff.

He says that the standards in Africa do seem to be rising steadily, but that they are not yet what they should be. "South Africa is much better off in this regard, with the rest of Africa still catching up," he says, commenting that the development in Africa is happening so fast that the expertise- and skills-base that was once sufficient is no longer enough. This has eventually led to a compromise in safety.

"At least in South Africa statistics are published of mine fatalities, but we have yet to see what is happening in the rest of Africa," says Eloff. "Such things are not controlled by governments as much as in South Africa."

MSA's onsite store affiliate, Select PPE, which hosts over 200 onsite stores, manages and controls the issuing of PPE to the workforce, keeping stringent records of all product movements and ensuring that the correct products are issued according to the code of practice.

"If a mine had to come back to us 20 years from now, we could present records of any product supplied, from up to 12 years ago, when the record-keeping started," says Eloff. "We can tell exactly, for each employee, what was issued and when."

He says that proposed new legislation in South Africa means that mine managers will be held personally responsible for any incidents involving workers, meaning that access to such records could be invaluable in proving a mine manager's negligence or innocence with regard to the correct issuing and management of safety equipment and practices.

One of the biggest challenges in PPE is the conservation of worker's hearing, says Eloff. This is because hearing problems usually take some time to manifest, up to 30 years, in comparison to concerns such as lung disease, which emerge relatively soon.

To counter such challenges and a myriad of other safety concerns, MSA's product range includes products for the head, the eyes, the face and the ears, respiratory safety, fall protection, fixed and portable instruments, mine-lighting, communication sets, hand and skin protection, chemical suits, emergency showers and storage and disposal systems for hazardous products.

MSA is ISO 9001:2000 accredited and was one of the first safety equipment suppliers and manufacturers to comply with the stringent regulations set out by the SABS, with products that have broad applications for workers in a variety of industries, including fire and emergency services, construction, manufacturing, mining, chemical, oil, gas and petroleum, transportation, military, and hazardous material clean-up.

The company has over ten large production facilities around the world, including South Africa, and many other smaller ones. MSA Africa in South Africa represents the largest facility outside North America and Europe. The company is also black economic empowerment (BEE)-compliant, with broad-based BEE company Mineworkers Investment Company holding a 25,1% share.

For over 60 years MSA has invested in Africa and has become one of the continent's more significant role-players in the supply, development and manufacture of innovative safety equipment. MSA Africa is also a founding member of the Sapema, the representative body of safety equipment marketers in South Africa.

With its wide experience in providing safety solutions for industrial purposes as well as for safety and emergency workers, MSA provides quality products, guidance and input into safety solutions.

Training on product use and applications consumes about 20% of the MSA sales and marketing department's time. MSA places an emphasis on forming partnerships with customers, providing support and training long after the sale is concluded.

MSA strives to set product and solution benchmarks. The company's primary aim is to address the ever-changing needs of the industrial world in its constant quest for more efficient methods and more effective products. As a result of consistent innovation, MSA holds more patents on safety concepts than any other company in the world.

Advanced technology in research and design as well as manufacturing helps MSA to improve creativity and innovation, enabling the company to respond quickly to its clients' changing needs.

Ongoing investment in research and development means that all MSA-manufactured equipment adheres to the highest global standards.

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