Background
Based in NSW, EBOS Group is the largest and most diversified Australasian marketer, wholesaler and distributor of healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical products.
Renowned for taking up new opportunities that extend its capabilities, EBOS Group partnered with icare’s Injury Prevention & Risk Advisory to pilot new wearable technologies to reduce the risk of body-stressing injuries.
How we helped
As part of our research into how wearable technologies can protect workers against work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), icare’s team of Prevention Specialists partnered with EBOS Group to generate robust, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this new technology.
During the 8-month pilot, EBOS Group staff wore the device on their belts as they went about their workday. If they made any dangerous manual-handling movements, workers were alerted in real-time so they could change their behaviour.
Additionally, the pilot generated new data for EBOS Group to analyse. Such as box pallets being emptied from the front first, which meant some workers were forced to pick-up heavy boxes from the rear in an unsafe manner.
A previously unknown insight, which informed new education and training around unpacking pallets layer-by-layer.
“It is accepted within our industry that body-stressing injuries are almost inevitable due to the repetitive nature of the work we do, such as stock picking and packing. This risk was further amplified for our business at the peak of COVID-19 when demand for medical and pharmaceutical products was at its highest.”
What was the impact
After participating in the pilot, EBOS Group experienced a steady reduction in the number of high-risk postures in workers who consistently wore the devices, resulting in an average improvement of 46 per cent across all three of its sites.
Anecdotally, staff said they previously did not think about manual-handling. Post-pilot, however, many staff reported an increased awareness of how to safely lift boxes.
“The ability to quantify the number of high-risk postures has enabled us to be proactive and targeted when having open safety discussions with our workers about identifying and addressing the issues causing these high-risk postures.”
