MSA Safety to produce respirators for federal agency

Cranberry Township-based MSA Safety recently signed a $4 million contract to produce elastomeric air-purifying respirators for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The respirators will be used for the Strategic National Stockpile, part of the federal medical response infrastructure. It provides medicines and medical supplies and devices to states, tribal nations, territories and large metropolitan areas during public health emergencies as a short-term, stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of necessary materials might not be available or sufficient.

MSA Safety will provide the Advantage 290 Air-Purifying Respirator which can be disinfected and re-used. It features twin-filters to provide respiratory protection and a silicone rubber face piece.

“We have learned much over the past year-and-a-half, and near the top of that list is the criticality of providing our healthcare workers with a reliable and adequate supply of (personal protective equipment) when a pandemic strikes,” Nish Vartanian, MSA Safety president, chairman and CEO, said. “Throughout our 107 years of business, MSA’s mission of protecting people’s health and safety has never changed. The work we’re doing to support U.S. healthcare workers aligns perfectly with that mission.”

MSA LLC, a company subsidiary, will manufacture the respirators at its North Carolina facility.