Fiskars Highlights Ease-of-Use Tools During National Arthritis Awareness Month
MADISON, Wis. (May 4, 2011) – May is National Arthritis Awareness Month and Fiskars, a leading global supplier of consumer products for the home, garden, and outdoors, offers a range of craft and garden tools to help individuals with arthritis continue to take part in the activities they love with a minimum of strain.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, arthritis is the nation’s most common cause of disability, causing limitations at work and at home for millions of Americans. Fiskars recognizes the challenges faced by individuals with arthritis and has earned the Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation for many of its craft and garden tools.
Fiskars’ Squeeze Punch contains a specially engineered squeeze motion that is two times easier to squeeze than other punches and is the first punch on the market to earn the Ease-of-Use Commendation. Similarly, Fiskars’ PowerGear® tools are currently the only pruners and loppers in the industry to have earned the Ease-of-Use Commendation, designed with ergonomic handles and a patented gearing mechanism that multiples cutting force and reduces hand stress.
“Our products are designed to be functional and easy-to-use to as many people as possible,” said Daniel Lipscomb, industrial designer at Fiskars. “We focus our design elements on performance, reduced movements and ergonomics to create a tool that works with the body instead of against it. By designing products to be easily operated by individuals with arthritis, our tools become inherently easier to use for everyone.”
Fiskars products are renowned for their functionality and ease of use, rooted in the company’s long tradition and heritage for design that stretches back over three centuries. Each of the garden tools, punches and scissors recognized by the Arthritis Foundation is based on smart design that increases power and reduces strain, making their use easier for people limited by arthritis.
Fiskars’ products carrying the Ease-of-Use Commendation have undergone rigorous testing by a team of scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute who assess each product in the laboratory, as well as a panel of people with moderate to severe arthritis who put the products to practical use.
“People with arthritis actually look to the Arthritis Foundation for products that will improve their lives,” said Dr. Jack Klippel, president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation. “Tools recognized by the Ease-of-Use program allow arthritis sufferers to use their joints in a way in which they can do activities that are important to them.”
More information, articles and projects with Fiskars tools carrying the Ease-of-Use Commendation can also be found at www.fiskars.com.
