TECH SPOTLIGHT
Potential benefits from using ergonomic hand tools include:
• Reduction in muscular stress within the hands
• Greater comfort from using well balanced tools
• Reduced vibration through the hands • Elimination of blisters and pressure points
In an independent study experts concluded that trade professionals unsure about where to spend their money on hand tools should give priority to:
(a) those tools which need the greatest force applied
(b) those used for the longest time and (c) tools which need the most precise movements.
Allow me to offer some guidance on how to buy and use hand tools while at the same time seeking to protect your hands from muscle strain or injury:
Choose the right tool
Manufacturers offer a choice of many different handle sizes for screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches and other hand tools. To avoid un-natural hand positions you need to use tools with a handle long enough to distribute pressure evenly over the palm, eliminating pressure points which could cause a callus.
Spring loaded pliers are good, provided you can lock them or have a spring with an on/off function.
Check that a tool allows you ‘precision grip,’ allowing small movements with your index finger and thumb, or ‘force grip,’ such as holding a hammer in your palm, or both.
Good ‘ergonomics’ equals good ‘economics’ Any tool designed to fit comfortably in your hand and deliver great performance, using less force, boosts productivity while cutting the risk of strain or injury.
When choosing a large screwdriver look for one designed to optimize the torque transmitted.
Below: Ergonomic screwdrivers are designed to be an ideal fit for the user’s hand.
Above: Bahco’s ergonomic slim blade 1000v insulated screwdriver is ideal for reaching sunken screws or spring elements
Is the force with you? When using pliers, remember that the longer the shank, the lower the cutting force you will need. Also, the closer the rivet is to the cutting edge the greater the cutting force.
If possible, keep your hands warm Cold temperatures anaesthetise the hands and conceal pain. Cold hands lose sensitivity and are more easily damaged by cuts and scratches, so keep them warm if you can. A
Hand tool design, manufacturing materials and techniques have improved enormously since 1886, when Swedish craftsman
J.P.Johansson, the founder of Bahco, obtained his first patent for ‘The Iron Hand’, which we would now call a pipe wrench.
He aimed to replace fixed spanners with a single tool which would fit different sizes of nuts and bolts. Three years later he gained a patent for the first adjustable spanner. This became the ubiquitous
adjustable wrench, still a toolbox essential. Bahco engineers use a scientifically recognised programme to design ergonomic tools, which we pioneered more than 30 years ago. There are now more than 550 within our range.
The programme brings together the knowledge and experience of ergonomists, industrial designers and researchers. We ask independent tool users to put prototypes through the toughest testing they can devise.
Their feedback is vital, enabling the design and manufacture of a new ergonomic tool to be fine tuned until professional tool users are entirely satisfied it exceeds every target in terms of safety, comfort, durability, performance delivery and protection against hand muscle disorders.
You only get one pair of hands. Surely they are worth protecting by choosing to use ergonomic tools.
www.bahco.com August 2017 |
www.sosmagazine.biz | p45
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