VIDEO: TOOLING UP – The Business of Protecting People with MCR Safety

NARRATOR: This video is brought to you by MCR Safety, the most trusted name in safety products. Welcome to Tooling Up, a series by MSC Industrial Supply Company, the show that provides real world insights and is brought to you by leading industry experts aimed at improving the efficiency and productivity of your operation. And now, the host of Tooling Up, Mitch Free.

MITCH: Hi everyone and welcome to Tooling Up. We have a fantastic show today. Before we meet our featured guest, I want to suggest that if you're new here, consider subscribing to the MSC channel, making us your source for discovering new products and technologies, as well as valuable interviews from industry experts just like this one. Our guest has a great passion for his industry. As you're going to see, it's truly contagious. Join me in welcoming Shawn Norfolk from MCR Safety. Shawn is MCR Safety’s market development manager. Shawn, thanks for being here today.

SHAWN: I appreciate it. Thanks, Mitch. Thanks for having me.

MITCH: Shawn, I'd love for you to share a bit of your background and what led you to MCR Safety and more importantly, what keeps you excited about the safety industry?

SHAWN: It's kind of an interesting story. I started off in the motorcycle industry, believe it or not, and, you know, gloves, jerseys, pants, protective apparel kind of thing. And it merged its way over into the industrial safety side of things and I became a hand safety specialist. And as far as joining forces with MCR safety, they've been doing it for a heck of a long time. And about three and a half years ago, we were able to connect. And it's been wonderful ever since.

MITCH: For those who aren't familiar with MCR Safety, how did you guys make your name in the industry? Tell us where it all began.

SHAWN: So MCR Safety. It's right around 50 years old. And technically the three letters – the M, the C and the R – the M is for Memphis Gloves; the C is from Cruise Eyewear; and the R is from River City Garments, River City Rain Wear. So that's where the M, the C, and the R come from. They were three separate companies that all became one. And MCR Safety you know, the motto is we protect people, and that's what we do. Everything from glasses to boots and everything in between.

MITCH: Shawn, I know, you know, garments is one of the product lines that you guys have. And when I think about garments and safety, one of the things I think about is flame-resistant clothing, that flame-resistant category. It seems to me that MCR has been doing a lot of innovation in that category. I guess you just weren't satisfied with the status quo and you wanted to see what you could do to further the advancements there. Can you tell us a little about what you guys are doing in that category?

SHAWN: Sure. MCR Safety innovates products. I mean, it's ridiculous the number of new products we come out with every year. I'm just going to throw a dart. It's somewhere between 50 to 100 new products, whether they're gloves or glasses or what have you. So innovation is huge for MCR Safety. And in the world of flame-retardant apparel, FRCs, there hasn't been a lot of innovation until now. So now with this new Triple Vent Technology, less than five and a half percent body burn, and it's pretty cool to see it working out so far.

MITCH: So what do you mean by Triple Vent Technology? I'm not sure I'm familiar with that.

SHAWN: Imagine hunters and fishermen, right? A PFG shirt, for example, those kind of shirts that have a big cape vent in the back where basically from the shoulders all the way down to the middle of the back is a huge individual cape vent. And then there's underneath both arms are two other small vents. And what it does is allows the air to circulate and really keep the workers cool, because one thing for sure about FR clothing is, you know, especially in the South, I mean, I'm in Dallas and it's 110 degrees today. And there are people outside right now wearing jeans and shirts and coveralls buttoned up, and they're hating life today. So it's being able to mitigate heat stress and help these guys be able to just get through their day is something that means a lot.

MITCH: So that Triple Vent Technology helps them stay cooler. But what does it also do from a safety aspect?

SHAWN: From a safety standpoint, it helps mitigate the number one cause of fatality. And I don't want to talk about it too much, but you know, fatalities are real in this world that we live in. And the number one cause of fatality after a burn, a flash or an arc is it comes from the first breath of air that they take.

So the mortality rate is 1600% higher when there's an inhalation injury at the same time as a burn injury. So trapped between your clothing and your body is all of this hot air and carbonization from the garment itself that was being on fire while everything was happening. And there's only one place for it to exit and it's right out of your neck hole. So by having these vents in the back and before the neck hole under your arms and on the entire back, it actually redirects the off gassing to where all this hot air and noxious gas goes out behind your head instead of in front of your head. So from a safety standpoint, it really it does exactly what we were hoping it was going to do.

MITCH: It's obvious that your passion comes through because I can only imagine how rewarding it is to know what you're doing for workers and protecting them and their families and everything that goes along with that. That passion for protecting people,  I imagine that's ingrained in the culture of MCR. How would you sum up your mission?

SHAWN: We protect people and it's, you know, I don't want to get too deep, but from a company standpoint, they feel the same way as well. They protect their own employees and it's probably one of the most. No, it's not probably, it is the coolest place I've worked since I left the motorcycle industry. Everyone is on board for the same exact mission and it's just win, have fun, smile, appreciate everybody and just do your best. And from the product team to customer service to our salespeople out in the field, everybody's on the same team. It's a pretty cool place to be. And you nailed it. It is protecting people is what we do. And it gets us out of bed every morning.

MITCH: Well, that's really inspiring. And I'm so happy to hear about that company culture. I mean, that's the kind of company that I want to do business with. Shawn, I want to thank you for joining us today. It's been really inspiring hearing about MCR Safety and about your personal journey. It's clear that you're passionate about safety and the products.  And as I've said multiple times, I can only imagine how rewarding it is to work in an industry where you're making such an impact.

SHAWN: Thanks. I really appreciate it Mitch. And thanks to MSC too, for having me on Tooling Up. This was a nice little interesting thing to have happened today. So I do really appreciate it, it’s cool. 

MITCH: To find out more about flame-resistant clothing, Triple Vent Technology and other solutions from MCR Safety, just head over to mscdirect.com/mcr-fr. You'll find that link in the description below. Remember some of the best suggestions come from you, the Tooling Up community, and absolutely subscribe to the videos like this and connect with Shawn from MCR Safety and everyone in the comments section below. Let us know how you're using flame-resistant clothing on your shop floor. Until next time, MSC's Tooling Up is here to help you be a better, more efficient and productive manufacturer. See you soon.

NARRATOR: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the MSC Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.