Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 140,895	$ 160,672
Trade receivables, less allowance for credit loss of $5,789 and $5,344		254,187	252,283
Inventories (Note 4)	[1]	280,617	244,966
Investments, short-term (Note 19)		48,974	74,982
Prepaid income taxes		21,235	26,185
Notes receivable, insurance companies (Note 20)		3,914	3,796
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		42,982	38,541
Total current assets		792,804	801,425
Property, plant and equipment, net (Note 5)		207,793	189,620
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net (Note 17)		50,178	53,451
Prepaid pension cost (Note 15)		163,283	97,545
Deferred tax assets (Note 10)		35,257	35,665
Goodwill (Note 13)		636,858	443,272
Intangible assets, net (Note 13)		306,948	161,051
Notes receivable, insurance companies, noncurrent (Note 20)		44,626	48,540
Insurance receivable (Note 20) and other noncurrent assets		158,649	89,062
Total assets		2,396,396	1,919,631
Liabilities
Notes payable and current portion of long-term debt (Note 12)		0	20,000
Accounts payable		106,780	86,854
Employees’ compensation		49,884	40,277
Insurance and product liability (Note 20)		55,125	43,706
Income taxes payable (Note 10)		5,366	3,580
Accrued restructuring (Note 3) and other current liabilities		113,451	116,128
Total current liabilities		330,606	310,545
Long-term debt, net (Note 12)		597,651	287,157
Pensions and other employee benefits (Note 15)		189,973	208,068
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities (Note 17)		40,706	44,639
Deferred tax liabilities (Note 10)	[1]	33,337	20,760
Product liability (Note 20) and other noncurrent liabilities		369,735	201,268
Total liabilities		1,562,008	1,072,437
Commitments and contingencies (Note 20)
Shareholders' Equity
Preferred stock, 4.5% cumulative, $50 par value (Note 7)		3,569	3,569
Common stock, no par value (180,000,000 shares authorized; 62,081,391 shares issued; 39,276,518 and 39,067,902 shares outstanding at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively)		260,121	242,693
Treasury shares, at cost (Note 7)		(330,376)	(327,756)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (Note 6)		(149,140)	(182,397)
Retained earnings	[1]	1,050,214	1,103,092
Total MSA Safety Incorporated shareholders’ equity		834,388	839,201
Noncontrolling interests (Note 14)		0	7,993
Total shareholders’ equity		834,388	847,194
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity		$ 2,396,396	$ 1,919,631

[1] *December 31, 2020 amounts have been adjusted to reflect the change in inventory accounting method, as described in Notes 1 and 4 to the consolidated financial statements.