Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AcquiredFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percent, prior to disposal, of ownership interest of a discontinued operation in which an equity method investment is retained.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4B
-Subparagraph (d)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721665-107760

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DiscontinuedOperationEquityMethodInvestmentRetainedAfterDisposalOwnershipInterestPriorToDisposal
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of divestiture of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GoodwillWrittenOffRelatedToSaleOfBusinessUnit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=us-gaap_AmericasMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=msa_InternationalSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DiscontinuedOperationsHeldForSaleOrDisposedOfBySaleMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=msa_SouthAfricanDistributionBusinessandZambianOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill			$ 332,139	$ 340,338
Disposal of goodwill		$ 200	198
Americas
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill			198,900
International
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Goodwill			$ 133,200
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale \| South African Distribution Business and Zambian Operations
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Percentage of stock sold	100.00%	100.00%