FORD WORKERS ARE BEING GIVEN EXOSKELETONS
Workers at two Ford plants in the US are being issued with upper- body exoskeletal devices to take the strain out of lifting and overhead tasks.
The EksoVest is the brainchild of a Californiabased company called Ekso Bionics. The nonpowered device can be worn by those standing 1.65-1.98m (5ft 5in- 6ft 6in) tall, and provides 3- 6kg of adjustable lift assistance to each arm. But it’s not really built with heavy lifting in mind – most of that is taken care of by robots in today’s car plants. Rather, it’s designed to support the spine and shoulders when working overhead (as car manufacturers regularly need to do, for instance when assembling an automobile’s chassis, exhaust system or axles), reducing both the amount of injuries that occur and the amount of muscular fatigue that the workers experience.
Ekso Bionics co-founder Russ Angold said: “Collaboratively working with Ford enabled us to test and refine early prototypes of the EksoVest based on insights directly from their production line workers. The end result is a wearable tool that reduces the strain on a worker’s body, reducing the likelihood of injury and helping them feel better at the end of the day, increasing both productivity and morale.”
The device has been rolled out to the workforce with the support of the United Automobile Workers union, and if the trials in the US go well, Ford plans to extend the trial to plants in Europe and South America.