Body Stressing Injury Risk Assessment Using Wearable Technology and Data Analysis Among Industrial Workers
Outcome: 19% reduction to overall injury risk by
reducing time spent lifting and carrying heavy loads
The industrial manufacturing industry has the fifth highest rate of avoidable body-stressing injuries, with 10% of the total number of body-stressing injuries that occurred in the U.S. in 2019. The industry also has the third-highest rate of slip, trip, and fall injuries, accounting for 14% of total slip, trip, and fall injuries in 2019. The median recovery time for injured manufacturing workers is nine weeks, having a significant impact on productivity and increasing costs.
In 2017, a trial program was conducted to assess how the wearable technology, smartphone app, and data analytics platform could assist in assessing and reducing avoidable body-stressing injury risks.
Trial Objective
Use wearable technology and data analysis to understand the physical demands of various industrial workers and identify opportunities to reduce injury risks.
Method
Measure the movements of a selected group over five weeks using work task assessments and movement coaching. In this study, 58 reports were recorded among 28 different workers and 3 locations.
Results
The overall injury risk was reduced by reducing the time spent lifting and carrying heavy loads by 19 percent.
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