Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA

Corporate brand

Dräger Safety is the occupational, industrial, emergency-response, and public-sector safety technology business of the German Dräger Group.

Last updated November 4, 2026

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Overview

Dräger Safety is part of the Dräger Group, offering professional safety equipment such as gas detection and respiratory protection for industries, fire services, and mining.

History

Dräger Safety’s history is best understood as part of the longer history of the Dräger Group rather than as a separately documented founding story. The present safety subsidiary operates in a field that grew directly out of the group’s early expertise in gas handling, pressure regulation, breathing equipment, and life-support technology. In 1889, Johann Heinrich Dräger and Carl Adolf Gerling founded the company “Dräger und Gerling” in Lübeck. The immediate starting point was a reducing valve for carbon dioxide. Dräger had become dissatisfied with unreliable beer-dispensing systems and developed a more dependable method of regulating gas pressure. The company’s early work established an engineering culture centered on controlled gas flow, pressure, valves, and practical reliability. Those capabilities later became relevant to medical and safety applications. The company quickly pursued international expansion. Dräger’s own historical account identifies 1892 as the year in which the first foreign subsidiary was established in New York. International operations exposed the company to demanding industrial, mining, medical, and public-safety requirements and helped turn the Lübeck business into a global technology supplier. Over subsequent decades, Dräger developed equipment for anesthesia, emergency ventilation, respiratory protection, mine rescue, and industrial hazard control. The Pulmotor, introduced in the early twentieth century as a mass-produced emergency ventilator, demonstrated how the company’s gas and breathing expertise could be applied to life-saving equipment. Safety technology became a major field of specialization as industrialization increased the need to monitor toxic gases, combustible atmospheres, oxygen deficiency, fire, and respiratory hazards. Dräger supplied equipment to industrial users, fire brigades, emergency services, public authorities, and mining organizations. In North American mining, rescue workers using Dräger breathing apparatus became associated with the informal term “Draegermen,” a cultural indication of the company’s long-standing presence in mine-rescue technology. During the twentieth century, Dräger broadened its safety portfolio from breathing equipment into gas detection, respiratory protection, escape and rescue systems, fire-service equipment, alcohol testing, diving technology, and industrial monitoring. The company’s safety business increasingly combined personal protective equipment with systems engineering. This included fixed detectors, controllers, sensors, alarm systems, sampling systems, calibration tools, and maintenance services. The result was a shift from selling isolated instruments toward providing complete hazard-management solutions. By the early 2000s, Dräger Safety was positioning itself as a supplier to industry, government, fire services, and mining whose requirements extended beyond individual safety devices. Company reporting emphasized personnel and facility protection, gas detection technology, and increasingly complex customer applications. Product families such as X-am portable detectors, Polytron fixed detectors, PSS breathing apparatus, and Dräger-Tube measurement systems became important components of the portfolio. The Dräger Group later consolidated its corporate structure while retaining distinct medical and safety activities. Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA acts as the group’s holding and operating parent, and Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA functions as the principal safety technology legal entity. The subsidiary is headquartered in Lübeck and uses Dräger’s shared global infrastructure, brand, engineering resources, and service network. In the 2020s, Dräger Safety continued moving toward connected and service-supported safety workflows. Portable detectors increasingly support digital documentation and connected monitoring, while fixed systems integrate sensors, controllers, communications interfaces, predictive maintenance features, and industrial control systems. Respiratory protection has likewise developed toward improved ergonomics, modularity, communications, and application-specific configurations. Dräger’s present identity is summarized by the group’s “Technology for Life” principle. Within safety technology, that principle is applied to protecting workers, firefighters, emergency responders, mine-rescue personnel, law-enforcement users, and communities from hazardous environments. The business remains active, internationally oriented, and heavily dependent on product reliability, certification, technical service, and long-term customer relationships. The sources reviewed do not establish a separate founding year or independent founder for Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA itself.

2025
Fourteen safety technology products launched or further developed
[9]Dräger Annual Report 2025draeger.com
Dräger’s 2025 annual report stated that 14 new or further-developed safety technology products reached the market during the fiscal year.
2003
Safety business emphasized integrated personnel and facility protection
[13]Safety business emphasized integrated personnel and facility protectiondraeger.com
Dräger reporting described increasing customer requirements in industry, government, fire services, and mining and highlighted the safety business’s focus on personnel protection, facility protection, and gas detection.
1892
First foreign subsidiary opened in New York
[3]Dräger Historical Chronologydraeger.com
Dräger’s historical chronology identifies the opening of a New York subsidiary as an early step in the company’s international expansion.
1889
Dräger and Gerling founded the Lübeck engineering business
[2]Dräger Company Historydraeger.com
Johann Heinrich Dräger and Carl Adolf Gerling founded “Dräger und Gerling” in Lübeck, establishing the group’s technological heritage in gas-pressure regulation and engineering.

Products and positioning

High-reliability professional safety technology supplier focused on hazard detection, respiratory protection, emergency response, industrial safety, and lifecycle services.

Portable multi-gas detection
X-am 8000
The X-am 8000 is a portable one- to seven-gas detector designed for clearance measurement and personal or operational monitoring. It can detect toxic and combustible gases, vapors, and oxygen, and can be used with a pump and sampling accessories. The product is intended for industrial safety, confined-space entry, emergency response, and other applications where users need a compact instrument capable of handling multiple atmospheric hazards.
Portable gas detection
X-am 2800 and X-am 3500
The X-am 2800 and X-am 3500 are portable detectors for personal air monitoring and industrial safety. Depending on configuration, they measure flammable gases and vapors, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Their product family emphasizes robust field use, clear signaling, accessory support, and integration with digital gas-detection workflows.
Fixed toxic-gas and oxygen detection
Polytron 7000
The Polytron 7000 is a stationary gas detector platform for toxic gases and oxygen. It uses electrochemical DrägerSensors and can be configured for different industrial measurement applications. Communication options include analog and digital interfaces used to connect the detector with control systems. The platform is designed for continuous monitoring in production sites, warehouses, process areas, and other fixed installations.
Explosion-proof fixed gas detection
Polytron 8100 EC
The Polytron 8100 EC is an explosion-proof transmitter for detecting toxic gases or oxygen in industrial environments. It uses plug-and-play electrochemical sensors and supports a range of communication protocols, including HART, Modbus, and fieldbus options. The system is designed for continuous monitoring, predictive maintenance, and integration into industrial control and safety architectures.
Gas detection control system
Regard 7000
Regard 7000 is a modular fire-and-gas detection control system that collects and evaluates signals from gas and flame detectors. It can activate alarms and protective actions and is designed for industrial installations where dependable signal processing and system integration are important. Dräger presents it as part of a broader portfolio that includes detectors from both Dräger and, in some configurations, other vendors.
Self-contained breathing apparatus
PSS 7000 and PSS AirBoss
The PSS product families provide self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighters, emergency responders, and other users working in atmospheres that may be immediately dangerous to life or health. Product features vary by configuration but generally address compressed-air supply, harness ergonomics, face protection, communications, durability, and compatibility with protective clothing and other firefighting equipment.
Respiratory protection
X-plore respiratory protection systems
The X-plore portfolio covers air-purifying respirators, powered air-purifying respirators, filters, masks, and related accessories. These products are used in industrial and occupational environments where workers need protection from particles, gases, vapors, or combinations of airborne hazards. The range includes solutions designed for different workloads, contamination levels, ergonomic requirements, and regulatory environments.
Professional alcohol testing
Alcotest 7000
The Alcotest 7000 is a professional breath-alcohol testing device intended for law-enforcement, workplace, transport, and other controlled testing applications. Dräger describes it as supporting two measurement methods, networked workflows, a broad operating range, hygienic handling, and limited calibration frequency. Product availability and permitted uses vary by jurisdiction.
Selective gas measurement
X-pid 9000 and X-pid 9500
The X-pid family provides selective measurement of volatile organic compounds and other hazardous substances. It is designed for users who need more specific or laboratory-like results than a conventional broad-spectrum detector provides. Typical applications include industrial hygiene, hazardous-materials work, process investigation, and public-sector or emergency-response measurements.
Colorimetric gas measurement
Dräger-Tube systems
Dräger-Tube systems use detector tubes and sampling equipment to identify and measure gases and vapors. They are used for spot measurements, workplace assessments, emergency response, confined-space work, and verification of atmospheric conditions. The system complements electronic detectors by offering application-specific chemical measurement methods and a wide range of target substances.

Marketing campaigns

2019Made by Diversity
Germany · International
The Dräger Group has supported the Made by Diversity campaign, which promotes tolerance and openness in society. The campaign is associated with the wider Dräger corporate brand rather than being exclusive to Dräger Safety.
Outcome. The campaign expanded the group’s public positioning beyond products and technology into workplace and social inclusion themes.
Source
Technology for Life
International
“Technology for Life” is Dräger’s overarching brand platform and corporate purpose. In the safety business it frames gas detection, respiratory protection, emergency equipment, training, and service as technologies intended to protect, support, and save lives.
Outcome. The platform continues to unify Dräger’s medical and safety technology businesses and is used across corporate, product, and customer communications.
Source

Brand decisions

2025
Expanded safety product-generation programProduct launch
Background
Dräger reported that safety customers continued to require specialized equipment for industrial, emergency-response, and occupational applications, including solutions for users with limited experience with personal protective equipment.
Action taken
The group brought 14 new or further-developed safety technology products to market and introduced a respiratory protection starter set for less experienced PPE users.
Aftermath
The product activity indicates continued investment in portfolio renewal and in making professional safety equipment easier to adopt and operate.
Source
Integration of hardware, software, service, and training into safety solutionsStrategy
Background
Industrial and emergency customers increasingly require more than standalone devices, including system integration, maintenance, calibration, documentation, training, and lifecycle support.
Action taken
Dräger Safety developed and marketed complete portfolios spanning portable and fixed detection, respiratory protection, emergency equipment, digital workflows, rental, service, and training.
Aftermath
The strategy supports recurring service relationships and positions the company as an integrated safety technology provider rather than only an equipment manufacturer.
Source

Sources14 sources

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