Verve Motion Releases Pioneering Four-Year Study
on Soft Exosuits and Transformative Impact on Injury Prevention and
Productivity
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Verve Motion, a Harvard University spinout dedicated to industrial
worker safety, today released the results of an extensive,
multi-year study on wearable robotics in the workplace. This
landmark research quantifies critical metrics related to back and
hip injuries and demonstrates substantial benefits for industrial
workers using soft exosuit devices, including a significant
reduction in workplace injuries and enhanced worker well-being.
The four-year study, the first of its kind, tracked ergonomics,
safety, and injury metrics across more than 65 million lifts at
over 40 sites in five industries: Construction, Food &
Beverage, Logistics, Manufacturing, and Retail. The findings offer
unprecedented insights into the impact of soft exosuits on
physically demanding jobs where workers engage in rigorous,
repetitive tasks, such as case picking, manufacturing, order
picking, and shipping and receiving, routinely lifting between
10,000 and 60,000 pounds per day.
In selecting the variables to capture in the safety study, Verve
Motion modeled its metrics on Marras et al., a 1995 landmark study
in ergonomics and occupational health, where the team analyzed over
400 industrial lifting jobs and identified several variables (e.g.,
lifting frequency, the degree of forward bending, and twisting
velocity) correlated with the risk of occupational-related lower
back disorders.
"In conducting this data analysis, Verve Motion collaborated
with customers across a number of sectors with the focus on metrics
that matter most to them, particularly injury reduction,
productivity improvement, employee well-being, and retention," said
Ignacio Galiana, CEO and co-founder
of Verve Motion. "We then analyzed how incorporating a soft exosuit
ergonomically performed in environments that involved repetitive
lifting, lowering, and bending—tasks performed hundreds or
thousands of times daily."
Among key transformational insights into workplace safety and
productivity, the data analysis revealed:
- High-Risk Sectors and Movements:
The study identified
the Food & Beverage, Logistics, and Retail sectors as having
the most intense and least safe lifting activities, with employees
averaging approximately 200 lifts per hour. Case picking was noted
as the occupation with the highest lift rate, averaging 196 lifts
per hour, with some sites exceeding 300 lifts per hour. More than
50% of these lifts involved deep lifts, with trunk flexion
exceeding 40 degrees, and the heaviest loads exceeding 30,000
pounds per day on average.
Dangerous movements leading to lower back and hip injuries were
also highlighted. Bending at the waist accounted for 55-65% of all
lifts, twisting for 20-25%, side bending for 10-12%, and excessive
forward bending for 15-20%, all of which are well-known risk
factors for injuries.
- Injury Reduction:
The use of exosuits led to a
dramatic reduction in workplace injuries, ranging from 60-85%
reduction per site. For example, at one distribution center which
typically experienced one injury every 14,300 hours (roughly one
out of seven full-time workers), the ongoing use of an exosuit
resulted in just one injury every 94,000 hours, a 5.5-fold
improvement (one out of 47 full-time workers).
- Reduction in Unsafe Movements:
The soft exosuit not
only provided lifting assistance but also encouraged safer
movements. The study observed a 36% reduction in unsafe lifts among
associates who wore the suit for five months or longer.
- Productivity Improvement:
The consistent use of
exosuits resulted in an average productivity boost of 4.7%, with
improvements ranging from 1.5% to 7.9% across the studied sites.
Additionally, the worker productivity distribution became
significantly tighter, indicating more consistent performance among
workers.
- Positive Workforce Impact:
The majority of users
(97%) reported that exosuits assisted in their work, with strong
positive sentiment (95%), reduced back muscle soreness (87%), less
fatigue (79%), and increased job satisfaction (95%). Companies also
reported higher worker retention rates, underscoring the benefits
of exosuit devices beyond physical safety.
Emphasizing Safety Culture
The study findings also
underscored the critical importance of a strong safety culture and
committed collaboration at the deployment site for the successful
adoption of exosuits. The research revealed that without these
foundational elements, even the most sophisticated technology
cannot reach its full potential in enhancing workplace safety. The
analysis highlighted the necessity of cultivating a safety-first
environment to effectively drive technological advancements and
change.
"The data from this multi-year study confirms the transformative
impact wearable robotics can have on reducing workplace injuries in
high-risk industries," said Galiana. "This emphasizes the exosuit's
role not just as personal protective equipment, but as a catalyst
for industry-wide change and sets a new benchmark for workplace
safety and innovation."
Tackling the Top Workplace Safety Challenge with Wearable
Robotics
Back injuries are a major concern in workplace
safety, affecting millions of workers annually. Occupational back
pain is the most common type of injury reported, with more than one
million U.S. workers affected each year. The Occupational Safety
and Health Administration estimates that the costs associated with
back injury claims, including medical expenses and lost wages,
range from $40,000 to $80,000 per incident.
Developed at Harvard's Biodesign
Lab, the SafeLift™ exosuit, which was used in this
study, is the world's first soft exosuit designed for industrial
use. Tailored to each worker and task, the exosuit offers adaptive
assistance by combining real-time motion sensing with robotic
support. It functions like a lightweight backpack, reducing back
strain by about 40 percent during a typical workday and includes a
cloud platform with sensors that detect risky movements, enhancing
injury prevention and workplace ergonomics through coaching.
SafeLift's inertial measurement units identify critical motions
associated with back disorder risks, such as excessive torso
bending and twisting, providing targeted support that decreases the
workload on biological muscles.
About Verve Motion
Verve Motion is a wearable robotics
technology company, committed to improving the lives of workers
across various industries. With a passion for innovation and a
focus on ergonomics, safety, and productivity, the company is
developing cutting-edge soft exosuits that redefine the way people
work. Spun out of Harvard University's Biodesign Lab,
part of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences, Verve Motion is based on a decade of research
funded by DARPA, the National Science Foundation, and the National
Institutes of Health. Since its inception in 2020, Verve Motion has
raised more than $40 million in financing from a diverse
group of investors. For more information,
visit www.vervemotion.com.
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SOURCE Verve, Inc.