General criteria for safe tools

Hand tools are men's oldest aid to working. Although their original forms have not changed much, considerable technical progress has recently made in the use, maintainance, and safety of hand tools.

Safety of tools is of uppermost importance during the production process. When producing hand tools it is necessary to follow regulations on quality and safety of such tools. These regulations are mostly included in DIN standards and partly in VDE standards.

DIN standards for hand tools are:

• 41 - standards for hand tools - tools for fasteners 
• 42 - standards for hand tools - hand tools

DIN standards include regulations on forms, material and quality of hand tools. Producers must follow the standards on safety at work with hand tools. Divergence from standards is allowed only if safety is assured in another way.

The mark DIN means that the product is standardized , that means the standards have been considered in its production. When a tool does not have the mark DIN its quality must be determined by extra tests.