Ergonomics and sustainability
The founder of Waves of North is Aina Olsen from Korgen in Nordland. As a hairdresser with a long track record in this profession, she is passionate about ergonomics and sustainability. These two elements were important for her development of new tools. Hairdressers are highly exposed to strain injuries and hazardous substances in their work, and the hairdressing industry currently tops the occupational injury statistics. The technology used by most hairdressers today is old-fashioned and outdated. The fact that plastic from the sea off the Helgeland coast could revitalise hairdressing tools was therefore a perfect match for Aina’s fundamental values. Innovation Norway and Sintef are supporting the project and consider it to be the texture transformation of the future. Sintef-Norlab is also assisting with the development of new tools. So far, two different tools have been launched, and several more are already on the drawing board.
Using the old curlers, the hairdresser’s arms are at an awkward working height that puts a great strain on the shoulders and arms.
With the tools from Waves of North, the hairdresser’s arms are always at a more ergonomically correct working height.
“My goal is for hairdressers to be able to keep working from training up to retirement.”
Why Waves of North?
For far too long, little innovation has been seen in the equipment used by hairdressers. We know that hairdressers’ professional careers are very short and we want to do something about this! The industry has a great need for development to ensure that hairdressers can stay in the profession longer.
This is our vision – we want to create tools to ensure hairdressers a less strenuous working day, and also increase their earnings. We believe that this will be of great economic benefit in the longer term.
Our innovative tools are designed by us and produced sustainably using recycled plastic from the aquaculture industry locally here in Nordland county. The tools are produced at Nordic Comfort Produkts (NCP) – a modern, forward-looking company based at Hemnesberget in Nordland. The factory primarily supplies sustainable furniture made from recycled plastic materials, as a result of innovation and design. They focus on using recycled raw materials in their products, and are among the leaders in Norway in their field. Together, we create future-oriented production of our tools, with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as our main focus. We want to support local and national value creation, and all tools are produced in Northern Norway. We want to boost existing workplaces and add manpower resources to established companies. In the longer term, we also hope to create many new workplaces.
We want to promote creativity and provide greater development scope for our industry. We must ensure that we take greater social responsibility, and deliver better quality and security, in particular the recruitment of new hairdressers. The hairdressing industry needs to build a better reputation and show that we are engaged in planning for our future in terms of sustainability.
As the first company to deliver sustainable tools to the industry, we hope that more will follow suit. All with focus on the environment – in the salon – for the hairdresser – for the customers – and not least for our natural environment!
Goal
Give hairdressers a better working day.
Vision
Add sustainability to the industry and help hairdressers to stay in their jobs longer.
Mission
New tools can have a positive ergonomic impact. We want to give our industry access to sustainable tools, so we can also proudly say that we are sustainable.
Values
We want to add new opportunities to the industry by thinking about the future, improving our reputation, and providing more security in what we do, to make our industry more attractive. We want to create a safer everyday life for our hairdressers, customers and nature in general.