Booster Hero – Rob Fontaine
“LifeBooster’s Senz platform changes what’s possible.”
Ergonomic assessment rarely sparks the imagination of employees or employers. Typically, an expert observes and analyzes high priority tasks and provides a report. This approach often keeps information siloed and potentially limits the value of an assessment. A common barrier to improving employee health and safety is lack of visibility to data that informs job performance best practices and poor injury risk education.
In working with an aquaculture company, we deployed LifeBooster wearable sensors. The remote location of a fish farm made for an ideal situation to use sensors since access to the facility was an issue. Sensors must be easy to onboard and deploy to work crews. The sensors must also be able to gather data on specific tasks demanded of workers. The physically demanding work means the sensors need to capture robust movements (like back flexions and shoulder rotations) rather than just forward bends.
With an online training session, the crew was able to easily secure the LifeBooster sensors in place and initiate a data collection. Over several days we were able to collect posture and movement data. Each crew member wore the sensors for at least one full day.
The Senz platform provides a number of useful data visualizations. The timeline plot of joint positions, combined with a 3D avatar mirroring the movements of the employee, quickly became a teaching tool for the crew; it prompted a discussion about best practices for specific tasks. It’s clear that employees have listened and internalized the information provided by LifeBooster Senz. As is usually the case with engaged workers, they want to understand how to improve their habits in the workplace.
We were also able to generate comparison charts for the frequency of at-risk postures across days, as well as the proportion of the day spent in low-risk and at-risk positions. Leaders not directly involved in site work became immediately interested in the variety of ways you can visualize the data.
This was my first opportunity to use LifeBooster sensors for remote work and see first hand how the technology was embraced by workers and leadership. There is great potential in using LifeBooster solutions to coach workers on best practices and give leadership valuable insights into the risk profiles of their workforce.
