September 13, 2024
New long-term injury data collected across multiple companies revealed significantly reduced muscle fatigue and strain complaints when exosuits were worn according to manufacturer HeroWear.
Exosuits are a type of exoskeleton — wearable devices that augment, enable, assist, and/or enhance physical activity — made primarily from soft, flexible materials.
After deploying its Apex 2 exosuits at multiple distribution centers in the United States, worker injury data from over 280,000 hours of work were collected and analyzed. The dataset is equivalent to 140 full-time employees working for one year while regularly wearing exosuits, encompassing an estimated 50-60 million lifts by workers.
The study found that zero back injuries were reported among workers wearing exosuits.
Additionally, exosuit users reported a 25 percent decrease in work-related bodily discomfort and a 20 percent reduction in work-related fatigue on average.
Before the exosuit rollout, the distribution centers estimated 10.5 back injuries throughout this period based on historical injury rates.
“These are exciting results for companies looking to reduce injury risk for their workers. Our clients are committed to both protecting their people and saving healthcare costs,” said HeroWear Chief Executive Officer Mark Harris. “We are encouraged to see our users are not just safer at work, but their quality of life is improving. Users report they are less sore at work and less tired at the end of the day, with many describing that they are using this additional energy to spend more time doing things they love.”
Previously, there was little long-term injury data regarding industrial exoskeleton or exosuit use even though use of the device is rapidly emerging across industries to reduce back strain.
Academic and industry studies have validated the effectiveness of HeroWear’s exosuits, which typically take 20-40 percent of the load off the user’s back muscles as they perform repetitive bending and lifting motions.
“People have been asking for longitudinal data on exosuits for years, so we were excited to gather and share this injury data reported by clients,” said Dr. Karl Zelik, HeroWear co-founder and chief scientific officer.
“These and other clients seeing success are expanding and rolling out exosuits with more workers and at additional sites. We are very data-centric and plan to keep collecting data for millions of hours. We will keep learning, sharing, and focusing on how exosuits impact injury rates over time, across different sites, and industries.
So far, results have been outstanding, and we’re thrilled this technology can help people do their jobs safely and without sacrificing their bodies.”
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