New Study Finds Exosuits Reduced Back Injuries in Warehousing

HeroWear, an occupational exosuit company, shared new long-term injury data collected across multiple companies that show a significant impact of exosuits on worker back injury incidence.

After deploying HeroWear 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. This 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.

Remarkably, 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 rolling out exosuits, these distribution centers would expect an estimated 10.5 back injuries throughout this period based on historical injury rates.

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. Dozens of 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.

Overexertion at work costs U.S. businesses $12.5B annually, with back pain also ranking as the leading cause of disability in 160 countries. With that in mind, HeroWear’s Apex 2 not only protects workers but also yields a financial return on investment (ROI), returning up to 2.4X the deployment cost in the first year based on injury reduction alone.

For more information, click here.