Across the defence force and civil workforce, workers every day repeatedly lift heavy objects, straining their backs and maybe contributing to debilitating back problems later in life.
Now New Zealand company Exxovantage has come up with an inexpensive wearable exo-skeleton which significantly reduces back strain. It’s called Exxo Lift.
Exxovantage chief executive officer Scott Waugh was promoting their product at the Indo-Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, though it’s applicable to workers in any industry sector.
“What we have developed is a one size fits all support for people moving things, bending lifting, carrying,” he told ADM.
“Anything where you have to move around and carry things like when you are loading planes or boats. It supports your back when you are bending, lifting and carrying something.
“All day you are bending lifting and carrying something. You go home and say ‘my back’s killing me’.”
Waugh said their product reduced fatigue though the day by way of a spring system supporting the back muscles.
The result is less fatigue and greater ability to continue working longer, without the sore back at the end of the day.
“Really importantly for us, especially for Defence forces is that when you retire you can do what you want to do. You are not restricted because your body has been beaten so much.”
Waugh said the idea emerged from having a company of landscapers whose workers spent their working life lifting heavy objects.
“We looked for solutions to help those people and that led to Exxovantage and our exoskeleton. We looked at everything in the world and we found there are very expensive things which need lots of adjustments and pieces.”
What they need, he said, was something that was lightweight (800 grams) super easy to put on and off and fully adjustable for level of support, he said.
Significantly, where other products sell for serious money, the Exxovantage exoskeleton costs under $1000.
“What that’s led to for us is far more engagement across the world. We now sell these into the US Air Force and Homeland Security,” he said.
Seventy-five per cent of sales are now into the US. Though the obvious users are manual workers, it’s just as useful to a surgeon leaning over an operating table or a home person washing the dishes.
In Indonesia, a trial is under way in a company whose 2000 workers screen print Adidas shoes.
“The Australian Defence Force is doing a trial of another similar suit. We would like the ADF to consider a local solution to compare because it is half to a third of the price,” he said.