MSA Safety’s Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne manufacturing plant is also its European Head Protection Centre of Excellence. This site develops and manufactures technical headwear for industrial, police-military and aeronautical applications. 

State-of-the-art equipment coupled with a strong team 

The plant’s success has been built on long-established experience and knowledge, excellent facilities and conditions, and a strong team spirit. Its diverse workforce includes 50% of women, including in the plant Management Committee. These factors combine to encourage happy staff, great loyalty and continuous achievement. 

Key facts: 

• Nearly 1,000,000 helmets manufactured in 2022 
• Premises covering 10,500 m² 
• 265 employees – including 35 specialist engineers and R&D technicians 
• The unique technical expertise gained in the development & manufacturing of firefighter, police-military & jet pilot helmets is applied to industrial helmets  
• With 21 patents filed, innovation has always been an important part of MSA Châtillon DNA 
• Testing laboratory – equipped with state-of-the-art machines and 3D printers – to test helmets for compliance with standards, and for quality assurance  
• Composite material laboratory – for innovation in material solutions 
• Plastic injection moulding workshop with 8 presses, aided by robotic manipulation 
• Metallisation workshop for firefighter helmets 
• 2 logo printing machines (1 in 3 industrial helmets leave the factory with at least 1 logo in place) 

A responsible approach 

• A deep commitment to HSE is essential to the culture at Châtillon. MSA Safety’s HSE credentials include: 
• 2022 Safety Excellence Award from MSA Safety Global  
• MASE certification  
• Compliance of the site with all requirements relating to its declaration as an ICPE (Installation Classée Pour l’Environnement) 

The team is proud of its many initiatives to reduce energy usage and other waste, such as: 

• Solar panel installation – saving approximately 183,000 kWh annually (or approximately 7% of the site's average annual
• Optimisation of heating and cooling – saving approximately 46,361 kWh annually 
• Replacement of neon lights with LEDs – saving approximately 15,800 kWh annually 
• Installation of water and gas meters throughout the plant to monitor consumption closely 
• Waste collection and sortation for recycling – including plastics 
• Introduction of new and more environmentally friendly vacuum metallisation process 
• Optimisation of helmet carton size to minimise wasted space in trucks 

A customer-centric focus 

MSA Safety in France is committed to making helmet users’ lives safer and meeting customers’ needs.  

To safeguard workers across sectors, MSA Safety designs and creates premium-quality helmets which are comfortable, customisable and easy to use. Unless a helmet is worn, it cannot protect. One of MSA Safety’s ultimate goals, therefore, is to make helmets that workers actually want to wear. 

User input can help to achieve this. That’s why, for instance, 300 users were involved in developing the V-Gard^® 930 and V-Gard^® 950 industrial helmets. Similarly, 200 firefighters took part in the development of the GALLET F2XR rescue helmet. 

In its testing laboratory, MSA Safety also measures the comfort and balance characteristics of its safety helmets and performs robustness tests on their visors, which can be important in developing helmets with greater comfort and robustness. 

One of MSA Safety’s senior staff, Valérie (Workshop Manager of Industrial Helmets, Painting & Surface Preparation) has been with the company for 37 years. She reflects: “What I appreciate most about MSA is the team spirit, the professional conscience and the commitment of everyone to protect and satisfy our customers.” 

A top-quality product range 

Three of the latest Chatillon site market-leading helmets are: 

• V-Gard^® 950.  A comfortable, compact and lightweight electrician’s helmet with integrated arc-flash visor. Its visor mechanism, inspired by the GALLET F1XF fire helmet, is a good example of added value gained from sharing ideas and technologies between teams. 

• GALLET F1XF. The latest version of a classic, instantly recognisable fire helmet design. It results from continuing cooperation between MSA Safety and the BSPP (Paris fire brigade) since 1985. 

• GALLET F2XR. Developed to help firefighters adapt to new challenges arising from climate change, including wildfires and flood rescues. 

For further information on MSA and its products, click here  

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