July 30, 2007

Guardian is proud to announce its Premium Edge Harness (http://www.guardianfall.com/product.php?id=63) received a gold International Design Excellence Award (IDEA). In conjunction with a design team who has worked with Nike, Microsoft, Leupold and Steven, Guardian set out to design the safest and most versatile harness on the market.

Co-sponsored by BusinessWeek and the Industrial Designers Society of America, the international competition recognizes the ''best of the best from the U.S., Asia, and Europe.'' It honors design excellence in products, eco design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research, and concepts. Over 30 countries were represented in the competition with more than 1,600 award entries. Guardian was one of only 81 winners – with its Edge Harness earning one of the 20 highest awards – a gold in the business and industrial products category.

The Premium Edge is a safety harness and tool-belt system for construction workers operating in high-altitude environments. The IDEA award recognized the Edge Harness not only for its design, but for its safety and versatile features, comfort, and ease-of-use. Harness features noted in BusinessWeek include:

Safety and versatile features: The integrated tool belt keeps tools close at hand but it can also be quickly released after a fall. And for all of today's requisite gadgets, notch holes along the chest straps conveniently stow cell phones, pens and walkie-talkies.

Comfort: Because work harnesses are typically worn all day, comfort was second only to safety with such features as padding along the shoulder and leg straps, placement of the main abdominal buckle away from the stomach and on-the-fly adjustments to alter the weight distribution between the hips and shoulders.

Ease of use: Quick-connect buckles and the overall rigidity of the harness makes putting it on and taking it off much easier.

Safety first: All these features, combined with a bold aesthetic, provide a subtle incentive to ensure workers keep safety first and don't forget their harness.

See the BusinessWeek article and read more about the competition and other award winners.