How Can an Exoskeleton Study Reduce Workforce Injury Rates?

Workplace injury costs continue to drain organisational budgets while simultaneously impacting employee wellbeing and retention.

For HR leaders managing teams in physically demanding sectors, the financial burden extends far beyond immediate medical expenses, with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimating that each workplace strain or sprain incident costs approximately US$67,248 when factoring in medical treatment, worker compensation, overtime cover, and lost productivity and replacement training costs.

However, emerging wearable technology could offer HR departments a strategic solution to address both duty of care obligations and bottom-line pressures.

A multi-site study examining exosuit implementation across distribution centres has revealed data that could reshape how organisations approach workplace safety investment and employee retention strategies.

Addressing the true cost of workplace injuries

Within the logistics sector alone, transportation and warehousing businesses in the US experienced US$1.45bn in losses in 2025 due to overexertion-related injuries. For HR professionals, these figures represent more than statistics.

They translate to absent team members, disrupted schedules, increased insurance premiums and the administrative burden of managing workers' compensation claims.

A study by HeroWear analysed data from five distribution centres over periods ranging from eight to 23 months, encompassing 311,000 combined work hours.

This was equivalent to 155 full-time employees working over one year while wearing the company's Apex 2 exosuit, a flexible back-assist device designed to reduce muscle strain and fatigue during heavy lifting tasks.

The aggregated results showed injury rates dropping from 10.2% to 3.8% amongst workers utilising the technology. Injury incidents decreased from one occurrence every 20,000 work hours to fewer than one every 50,000 work hours. Notably, none of the recorded injuries during exosuit use were back-related injuries.

Employee wellbeing beyond compliance

Travis Erickson, Director of Operations at Plymouth Inc., a West Coast protein distributor participating in the study, provided context on the physical demands facing warehouse teams. "A night shift employee will pick up an average of 60,000 pounds (27,216 kg) a night," he explains.

"Our main goal at Plymouth is to make sure we are supporting every worker to have a happy, healthy life outside of work. Some of our workers who have had back issues started wearing the Apex 2 exosuit and don't have back issues any longer."

This perspective highlights how investment in preventative technology aligns with broader employee value propositions. For HR teams focused on retention in competitive labour markets, reducing physical strain could translate to improved job satisfaction, decreased turnover and enhanced employer brand positioning.

The customisable exosuits function as an additional set of back muscles, allowing workers in retail, warehousing, logistics and manufacturing environments to lift weighted items more safely during case-picking shifts without requiring additional rest breaks or experiencing injury-related discomfort.

Strategic workforce investment

Previous hesitation around exoskeleton adoption centred on concerns about potentially shifting injury risk to other joints or muscle groups. However, this study examined holistic strain and sprain data rather than focusing solely on back injuries.

The multi-site evidence demonstrated that work-related musculoskeletal disorders did not increase in other body areas, addressing a primary concern for organisations considering implementation.

"Emerging technologies demand continuous learning, and the only way we advance is through converging, real-world evidence," says Dr Karl Zelik, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of HeroWear.

"I'm deeply grateful to the companies willing to share this longitudinal data. They're accelerating progress for all of us and helping make every workplace safer."

For HR departments evaluating budget allocation between reactive injury management and proactive prevention strategies, the data could suggest that wearable technology investment delivers measurable returns through reduced absence, maintained productivity levels and decreased compensation costs.

Distribution centres deploying these solutions are reporting efficiency gains alongside creating safer working environments, demonstrating that employee welfare initiatives and operational performance need not be competing priorities.