Industrial Exoskeletons: Need for Intervention Effectiveness Research

Details

• Personal Author:
  Howard J ; Lowe, Brian D. ; Lu M-L ; Murashov VV
• Description:
  Exoskeleton devices are being introduced across several industry sectors to augment, amplify, or reinforce the performance of a worker's existing body components - primarily the lower back and the upper extremity. Industrial exoskeletons may play a role in reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders arising from lifting and handling heavy materials or from supporting heavy tools in overhead work. However, wearing an exoskeleton may pose a number of risks that are currently not well-studied. There are only a few studies about the safety and health implications of wearable exoskeletons and most of those studies involve only a small number of participants. Before the widespread implementation of industrial exoskeletons occurs, there is need for prospective interventional studies to evaluate the safety and health effectiveness of exoskeletons across various industry sectors. Developing a research strategy to fill current safety and health knowledge gaps, understanding the benefits, risks, and barriers to adoption of industrial exoskeletons, determining whether exoskeleton can be considered a type of personal protective equipment, and advancing consensus standards that address exoskeleton safety, should be major interests of both the occupational safety and health research and practice communities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Engineering Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Exoskeleton Engineering Controls Exoskeletons Human Augmentation Intervention Effectiveness Low Back Disorders Personal Protective Equipment PPE Skeletal System Upper Extremities Wearable Technologies

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  201-208
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058072
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2020 Mar; 63(3):201-208
• Contact Point Address:
  John Howard, MD, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 395 E Street, S.W., Suite 9200, Washington, DC 20201
• Email:
  Jhoward1@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:986aa052a22e25b1cb9bc32c1b95a1e4d61cef63821e915806b4c0a77b0c3773a745479cd5c09c2b105d7ba62d92b20ab217fc8f561ca75320a532474c122086
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221246/cdc_221246_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 987.01 KB ]