3M to increase manufacturing of safety products at Japan facility

The Japanese government is working to restore order in the country following the catastrophic damage the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused on Friday. Many factories are either closed or have slowed their manufacturing in the aftermath, but industrial giant 3M announced it will increase production of safety-related products to meet burgeoning demand.

3M said that all 2,700 employees in its majority-owned Japan joint venture are safe and that its facilities were mostly unharmed from the natural disasters. Japanese authorities are currently working to prevent the meltdown of four reactors at nuclear facilities in the hard-hit northeast part of the country, but high radiation levels are hindering their progress, The New York Times reports.

The company will ratchet up production of safety products like face masks which are in high demand. "We're still assessing the situation in Japan," said 3M finance chief Patrick Campbell. "In April, we'll have a little better sense of what the impact could be. This could take a while to play out. It's a large operation for us." 3M will also produce additional respiratory safety products that are in high demand in Japan as cleanup crews sort through detritus.