3M has named Jose Varela vice president and general manager of 3M’s Personal Safety Division. In this role, Varela will oversee 3M’s global safety business and more than 40 major platforms, including respiratory protection, hearing protection, fall protection, protective eyewear, head and face protection, and reflective materials.

Varela previously served as managing director of 3M Brazil. He also brings a wealth of experience and global business leadership due to his roles in finance, sales, operational planning and supply-chain management for 3M’s operations in APAC, Latin America and Canada.

“We’re excited to see the commitment that safety managers from around the world are making to improving worker safety,” said Varela. “In my new role, I look forward to leveraging 3M’s decades of safety experience and its entrepreneurial spirit to create a safer world.”

About 3M

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $31 billion in sales, 3M employs 89,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

About 3M Personal Safety Division

3M offers a comprehensive, diverse portfolio of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) solutions providing respiratory protection, hearing protection, fall protection, reflective materials for high-visibility apparel, protective clothing, protective eyewear, head and face protection, welding helmets, and other adjacent products and solutions, such as tactical safety equipment, detection, monitoring equipment, active communications equipment and compliance management. Visit www.3M.com/PPESafety or http://m.3m.com/PPESafety.