Published 29 September 2021 • Inter IKEA newsroom
OMTANKSAM collection wins the gold EU Product Safety Award
In an award ceremony in Brussels on 28th September, IKEA won the gold award at the EU Product Safety Award 2021 for the OMTÄNKSAM range. With this award the European Union recognises businesses and brands that make a great effort to protect customers and uphold high product safety standards.
At this year's EU Product Safety Awards, IKEA won the gold award for the OMTÄNKSAM collection in the category “Protecting the safety of vulnerable consumer groups” (sub-category large companies). The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. That includes all individuals with different kinds of functional needs – from children to the elderly and everyone in between. Because everyone deserves a good home with affordable products of good quality and beautiful design. With the OMTÄNKSAM collection IKEA wants to add comfort, function, and safety in all areas of the home.
Designed with input from ergonomists, physiotherapists and researchers in the care industry, the range – including amongst others an armchair, a shoehorn, and cushions that provide extra support – has the ambition to make everyday activities around the home safer, easier, and more comfortable. The range was first introduced to IKEA stores in 2017.
“OMTÄNKSAM means ‘thoughtful’ or ‘caring’ in Swedish, and to me, the word includes the small things you do to look out for the comfort or welfare of others”, says Britt Monti, former Creative Leader at IKEA of Sweden AB (retired), who initiated OMTÄNKSAM. “We wanted to design products that look great in every home, while putting some extra thought into inclusiveness and clever solutions. I’m proud that OMTÄNKSAM has received the gold award today – with an ageing population inclusive design will become even more important in the future”, she adds.
This year, in its second edition, the EU Product Safety Award focussed on two categories - protecting the safety of vulnerable consumer groups and combining safety and new technologies. Each of these categories had companies in the large, medium, and small segment nominated for the gold, silver, and bronze awards. - in total 12 businesses and brands. The IKEA OMTÄNKSAM range was awarded in the category “Protecting the safety of vulnerable consumer groups” among the large companies. With this category the European Union celebrates products that specifically target vulnerable consumer groups such as young, elderly, and disabled, or can be used safely by everyone and additionally address specific risks, limitations, and foreseeable behaviour of vulnerable consumer groups.
“At IKEA we believe a safer everyday life is a better everyday life. Safety is part of our values and close to our hearts. We use our unique and extensive knowledge about life at home and understanding of people’s behaviour when we develop our products and solutions”, says Jirko Hoogerwerf, project leader for Safer Life at Homes at IKEA of Sweden AB. “Receiving this award for OMTÄNKSAM is a great motivation for me and everyone in IKEA to continue our work with product safety and support a safer life at home”, he adds.
Read more about the European Product Safety Awards and the winners here.