3 Years & 3M Hours: How Deploying Safety Wearables Prevents Musculoskeletal Disorders at Walmart
- Room: Versailles 1-2
- Session Number: ET5
Wednesday, November 03, 2021: 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Speaker(s)
Description
For 3 years, Walmart has been deploying safety wearables with StrongArm Tech across multiple U.S.-based distribution centers. The program began as a 2-site, 6-month POC deployment in 2018, seeing a 34% injury reduction. In year two, the scope grew to 8 distribution centers and achieved a 38% YoY injury reduction. Today, there are 6,000+ Walmart associates across 20 DCs trusting StrongArm’s FUSE Sensor to help keep them safe. The primary focus of the program has been utilizing the FUSE Platform to reduce the frequency of MMH-related musculoskeletal injuries. The success is evident by analyzing specific ergonomic risk factors including max flexion, twist velocity and lateral velocity. StrongArm’s safety wearables were successfully integrated into Walmart’s existing routine across multiple job functions, providing intuitive and actionable data for associates, managers and leadership; and, above all, enabling both companies to work toward the same goal of zero workplace injuries.
Track(s)
Learning Objectives
1. Real-time feedback works. When an associate is alerted about a risky movement, their behavior innately reacts and adapts to protect their body.
2. Data wins. Empowering managers with a benchmark of leading-indicator ergonomic data fosters a strong safety culture and enables them to actively target employees who need intervention most.
3. Safety scales. Leveraging wearable technology at scale identifies ergonomic risk factors and reduces injuries in parallel.