SoterSpine Wearable Sensor and App Reduces Workplace Injuries by 55%

A collaboration between BSS; Travis Perkins Group’s largest and leading distributor of pipeline and heating solutions in the UK and Soter Analytics, a global wearable tech company housing the smallest and lightest safety tech device on the market, has reduced musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace by 55% over the last 12 months.

The SoterSpine solution developed by Soter Analytics has automated the ergonomics process starting from the worker and filtering through to management. “Musculoskeletal safety in the workplace shouldn’t be difficult, we make movement safety simple and automate the process. Workers can create a personalised injury reduction program, no supervisors, just the employee and the technology,” said Matthew Hart, CEO, Soter Analytics.

The wearable technology solution captures 8 different types of hazardous movements and is accompanied by a mobile app for the worker and an online dashboard for management. The solution provides a shift in manual handling behavioural change by transferring the responsibility to the individuals. Real-time feedback, autonomous micro-learning and self-tracking elicits the increase in awareness required for self-adjustment, empowering employees to stay safe.

Mr. Budhdev reports that not only has user engagement been really positive, the reduction of high-risk movements has been paramount. “In one simple instance, the device highlighted that one of our colleagues was bending at a low level roughly around 100 times a day so by easily moving some things around we have saved around 26,000 high-risk bending movements in a year, you can appreciate that small device pointing us in the right direction”.

Not only has the solution largely reduced the number of high-risk movements, now having been rolled out throughout the BSS warehouses, for 12 months the company has seen a 55% reduction in manual handling injures compared to the previous year.

Mr Vimel Budhdev, Head of Health, Safety and Environment, Travis Perkins says, “Using innovative ideas is what we strive to do. Adopting the SoterSpine solution to link in with one of the problems that we have within the business, [manual handling], and employing this device to help eliminate, reduce and also teach people the right way of doing manual handling has been the perfect marriage”.

Ms. Hope added: “When you can track, compare, share, engage and take home your learnings, being actively safe at work is fun and promotes positive imbedded behavioural change”. User engagement is one of the Soter Analytics biggest priorities and working with Travis Perkins has been a great opportunity to not only prove the merits of the solution but showcase the design and engaging interactive features.

The collaboration between Soter Analytics and the Travis Perkins Group shows strong evidence for the use of wearable technology and analytics within industry when used by health and safety professionals in collaboration with industrial workers to identify and reduce the risk from workplaces and tasks.

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