Fighting Muscle Fatigue with Exosuits

March 4, 2025|Ergonomics, News & Headlines, Safety

By Jennifer Jones, Director of Client Services – HeroWear

1. What key safety challenges do you see most often in warehouse environments, and how can wearable technologies help address them?

Slips, trips, and falls have been a big focus for warehousing and other industries for the past few years, or even decades. While these concerns are still in the top three work-related injuries, overexertion injury rates surpassed that category, according to NSC data.¹ This has prompted an amplified focus on finding proper solutions for strains and sprains that are the catalyst for many work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

A lot of the initial focus has been on training proper lifting techniques and on administrative controls like enforcing team lifts and ‘max safe lift’ policies. Those have addressed some of the issues that arise from heavy lifts, but a lot of the strain injuries are coming not from specific heavy lifts, but from high repetition.

Long hours and work-related fatigue that are related to peak seasons in the warehousing industry are key challenges in warehouse environments. Fatigued muscles are primed for injury. Micro-damage can occur daily to muscle tissue that isn’t able to properly recover before another hard day of lifting. Tired workers can sometimes tend to cut corners. Training goes out the window, and more injuries occur. Physically demanding jobs shouldn’t risk the safety and capabilities of hard workers.

Thankfully, there are some exciting new wearable safety technologies that have become available in the last decade that can fight muscle fatigue. Occupational exoskeletons and exosuits, also called exos, are revolutionizing worker safety and workers’ lives in meaningful ways.

2. What are occupational exoskeletons and how do they impact worker safety?

In peak seasons, I’ve talked to workers who say their pick rates will go as high as 400-500 per hour, causing strain and taking a physical toll. Exos are proven, wearable safety technology devices that help improve worker safety outcomes. They deliver results like injury reduction, decreased work-related discomfort, decreased fatigue, and an improved quality of life.

Lower-back supporting exos are designed to assist workers in their repetitive bending and lifting motions, and some even help encourage better lifting form. As a byproduct of this lifting assistance, studies have shown that workers can experience a 30% improvement² in their work-related discomfort and fatigue, which is key during the longer hours and increased physical demand that busy seasons warrant.

3. Is change management an obstacle in deploying wearable safety technology like exosuits? How can that be improved?

Change management is one of the biggest challenges to the adoption of any safety technology with a workforce. If not handled properly, introducing wearable technology can be a difficult sell to workers who are already wearing required PPE gear—especially if they work in warm environments. Ultimately, you’re asking them to change their work routine, whether it’s a big or small wearable safety device, which can be daunting or unappealing to them if not handled well.

Education and training is also vital. Ensuring proper integration into a work routine starts with the ‘why,’ focusing on explaining the benefits to workers and why you want to help prevent injury with this new technology.

But, of course, the selection of the right exo tool to fit easily into their routine can make things much easier. Ideal exos for a workforce should be easy to use and compatible with other tools and PPE. It should be designed with the comfort of the user as the first priority. If you have chosen the right exo for your workforce, the difficult parts should already be taken care of, making change management less of an issue, especially if proper training is implemented.

4. Can onsite training of all workers and leaders impact the adoption rate of wearables?

It is not just a one-person job to train or support; it requires the whole team. One of the biggest impacts on rates of adoption includes the support team behind the deployment of wearable safety technology like exos. Stakeholders in a successful workforce deployment of exos are not just the workers––it should include each worker’s direct supervisors, onsite trainers, team leads, and even the director of the facility. Direct, onsite training provided by the vendor should be properly communicated, explained, and supported by each of these stakeholders to have an impact on adoption. Additionally, each training session may look different due to the many roles that each member of the support team plays in order for workers to reap the full benefits of an exo.

Feeling confident using wearable safety technology is important for worker safety, and feeling supported is one of the many keys to this. Building worker confidence includes essential training that will help workers with ‘on-the-go’ adjustments to their exo so that they can do their job more effectively with the most assistance. Stakeholders who are trained properly can impact this process through consistent support of their workers, including encouragement, helping with any adjustments, and having an open channel for feedback for quick solutions.

5. What is the difference between an exo that is designed to be one-size-fits-all vs. modular?

As mentioned earlier, the comfort of the user is probably the number one key for successful wearable technology deployment. Because of that, exos with a modular design have many advantages over one-size-fits-most exos. A one-size-fits-most exo is less adjustable and much less personalized to each worker’s unique height, weight, and shape. There is more precision and thought behind the creation process of modular exos as they factor in the many different body types that will be fitted into the exo. This can greatly improve adoption rates, because the more comfortable the worker is both physically and mentally (the pride a worker has in their personalized exosuit is huge!), the higher the rate of workers embracing the technology.

6. What metrics can be tracked to measure the effectiveness of wearable safety devices in improving worker’s lives?

It is a significant, meaningful testimony to a company when they invest in their employees with safety technology like exos. Impactful measurement tools for showing the effectiveness of an exo include long-term injury rates, productivity rates, and turnover.

Lastly, measuring quality of life and worker satisfaction is a great way to see the effectiveness of exos and other wearable safety devices. Although workers are often resistant to change, hearing their feedback is a great way to truly understand how they feel about safety technology. You can measure how many are having positive responses to the exo as well as how their minds may have changed from day one, day 30, and so on.

About HeroWear

HeroWear is a wearable technology company that provides exosuit solutions to reduce injury risk, improve quality of life, and boost productivity for workers in physically demanding jobs across the globe. Born in Vanderbilt University labs, HeroWear’s customizable exosuits help thousands of workers in industries including logistics, manufacturing, warehousing, food & beverage, retail, and more. To learn more and see the science behind the suit, visit HeroWearExo.com.