When hammers and screwdrivers were invented eons ago, no one worried that continual pounding or wrist cranking might actually be harmful to joints and tendons.
But in today’s more ergonomically correct environment, stress and fatigue of the tool user seems a primary concern.
At the 53rd National Hardware Show–which kicked off Sunday at McCormick Place–ergonomic screwdrivers, power sanders, hammers and saws were the talk of the show. Dozens of tool sales people and exhibitors spent countless hours discussing the finer points of carpal tunnel syndrome as they demonstrated their new user-friendly wares.
“It’s the evolution of tools,” said Jeff Hodnett, spokesman for The Stanley Works , the tool company that is marketing ergonomically correct hammers and saws. “These new tools show that we are taking very seriously the medical and scientific research about repeated stress injuries. It’s a market-wide shift.”
Stanley was one of the 3,000 exhibitors peddling products at the National Hardware Show and companion National Building Products Expo. The event–the nation’s third-largest trade show–attracted more than 70,000 exhibitors and buyers from 91 countries including the United States, Australia, South Africa, El Salvador, Brazil, India and Vietnam.
Organizers expect the show, which runs through Wednesday and isn’t open to the public, to pump an estimated $115 million into the city and the state economies.
At one time, the annual convention attracted hundreds of mom-and-pop store owners who spent the week testing power tools and talking shop with small dealers. But nowadays, the show draws import/exporters, big-name distributors and mega-retailers like Home Depot Inc. and Menard Inc., who spend millions on high-tech tools such as talking tape measures and levels with lasers.
“It’s like a whole different world,” said Dean Ruediger, a hardware store owner from Racine, Wis., who was attending his 13th show at McCormick. “It used to be like old-home week, where all the guys would come to talk shop. But now, well, all I can say is there’s a lot of big-money companies here and the shop they are talking is about selling and buying millions of dollars worth of product.”
The expo boasts more than 1.3 million square feet of home improvement and yard equipment, including 1,600 new-fangled items such as hydraulic toilet seats that automatically close, torches small enough to fit in a pocket and even the newest Chia Pets.
But the products drawing the most attention seemed to be the ergonomically correct tools. Several large manufacturers, including Stanley and Crescent, are working with research facilities and doctors to develop tools that are more comfortable and less inclined to cause injury. They are testing such obscure topics as the grip force on a hammer or screwdriver, the transfer of heat through tools as well as stress and vibration.
To that end, Stanley unveiled a new line of tools, including the AntiVibe hammer, which dampens the vibration from the pounding and reduces stress to arm and shoulder; and a power saw that cuts 50 percent faster than a conventional saw, reducing fatigue.
“We have tools in the industry now — like the hammer — whose designs haven’t changed much in decades,” explained Neal Curtis, a global products engineer who worked the AntiVibe hammer booth at the expo. “We’re taking a long hard look at some of these tools, applying scientific research about ergonomics, and creating better and more effective products. It’s simply a raised consciousness of what our customers want and what we think is important.
“There is no reason a tool cannot be effective and comfortable if used repeatedly.”
Black and Decker has even gone as far as developing a power sander shaped like a computer mouse.
“It’s all about comfort,” said Bill Harmon, an exhibitor with Black and Decker. “If a tool feels comfortable in the hand, the user will be more inclined to use it and more inclined to use it for an extended period of time. Using tools should not be painful.”
Perhaps the most overt example of the push toward ergonomics was the Crescent screwdriver booth, where an official with the Ergonomic Resource Center in Raleigh strapped a monitor onto his arm and then to a computer to demonstrate the impact on the muscles while using an old-time screwdriver. Then the researcher showed the results while using Crescent’s new ergonomic screwdriver, which has a longer and fatter handle.
When a computerized line showing tension on the muscles were reduced, “oohs” and “aahs” wafted from the crowd that had gathered.
