What is the impact of the musculoskeletal disorders and more specifically low back pain on companies?
No matter how many they are, there are always too many work-related accidents in a company. Let’s not forget the employee who are not off work but who suffer at their workstation. In both cases, the people are in pain and the pain hinders their work.
Companies must work on the layout and ergonomics of the workstation, or the improvement of processes. When the pain persists, sometimes that is not enough, and it is important to try to find other solutions.
Why did you decide to implement Japet.W in your organization?
The Japet.W equipment was proposed by an operating unit managers (DUP) at the SNCF Industrial technicenter, in Hellemmes near Lille. He has agents in his team who suffer from back pain and who were looking for solutions.
Japet.W interested us because it is a personal assistance device different from those present on the market. It does not only help to carry loads but also offers those famous spinal tractions that allow relief while maintaining trunk mobility. It is a good solution to assist the worker with back pain during painful episodes or back strains.
What is the feedback from the person who tested Japet.W?
It turned out that the agent really feels the difference, he is not bothered at all in his activities, he feels supported and assisted.
The major positive point is that the pain is less prevalent. The agent systematically had back pain starting on Monday evening. Since he has been testing Japet.W, it has considerably delayed the onset of pain, which only appears on Wednesday evening.
This device assists the mobility of the trunk, makes it possible to restore work pleasure and limits the combinations of traumatic movements, it is very encouraging!
What are the next steps?
We were the first industrial company to test Japet.W because it was completely in line with our global approach within the SNCF. At the same time, we are also developing our own modular exoskeleton to assist our agents on a daily basis.
The objective of this test is to officially validate the Japet.W exoskeleton, so that all of our establishments can purchase it according to their needs. It is important to remember that this equipment is not there for the sake of productivity, but that it is part of a global approach to personal assistance, by also working on the layout, the ergonomics of the workstation, the processes…
Do you have any advice for other companies?
Just try it!