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MSA thriving on manufacturing high-quality products in current tough environment

27th March 2015

By: Zandile Mavuso

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

  

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At its seventy-fifth anniversary celebration earlier this month, health and safety products manufacturer MSA Africa noted that it would continue to benefit from increased mining activity when the commodity pricing cycle improved.

“Businesses in the mining and oil and gas sectors have been significantly impacted on by the commodity pricing cycle. Despite this, MSA Africa continues to achieve a year-on-year improvement in business levels through a strong product brand equity, marketing and the ongoing dedication of our staff,” said MSA Africa CEO Colin Oliver during the celebration in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Despite the current low commodity prices, mining operations would continue to drive cost optimisation and control, he added, but indicated that maintenance of existing infrastructure needed to continue to ensure that operations could deal with the upswing of the commodity cycle when it happened.

Oliver also pointed out that, besides the low commodity prices, another concern for the company was lower-quality counterfeit imports. He noted that a large percentage of the imported products had questionable quality certifications and lured operations with limited budgets with their marginal pricing.

“The long-term consequences can be catastrophic, as these companies are interested only in quick sales and not in the long-term health and safety of workers.”

Owing to this, Oliver indicated that the company thrived on manufacturing high-quality products for the mining industry, such as the Luminator cap lamp, which MSA Africa launched last year.

The lamp features innovations designed to improve the long-term health and safety, as well as visibility, for South African underground mineworkers. This enhances the miner’s ability to more effectively detect cracks on hanging walls, which usually represent signs of ground falls and roof collapse. By identifying these cracks, miners save time and can evacuate mineworkers in the event of a rockfall.

As another safety precaution for industry, MSA Africa showcased a sample of its new PremAire Escape device, which it plans to launch later this year.

Oliver stated that the PremAire Escape device could be fitted onto the miner’s face in less than five seconds, and it provides air supply for 10 minutes to 15 minutes. This enables the wearer to escape without difficulty from any hazardous environment.

“The PremAire Escape is designed to withstand high levels of industrial gas leaks in harsh chemical environments such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S). The major components of this device were subjected to strenuous H2S concentration testing by a third party. Despite concentrations exceeding 25%, the permeation detected remained minimal.”

Oliver said that this ensured MSA end-users that they were using high- quality, certified and legitimate products to provide safety for mineworkers.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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