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A worker’s hand on the Apex 2 chest clutch

Manufacturing and assembly

Manufacturing and assembly workers repeat the same movements hundreds of times a day. Reaching, twisting, lifting and holding awkward positions at fixed workstations: it's the repetition and the posture, not just the weight, that builds up over time.

The common roles at risk
  • Assembly line worker
  • Packaging operator
  • Production worker
  • Machine operator
  • Material handler
  • Forklift operator
  • Quality inspector
  • Line lead / supervisor
  • Maintenance technician
  • Welder and fabricator
  • Press and machine operator
  • Goods-in / goods-out clerk
A worker wearing the Apex 2 at a workbench, both hands on a length of timber
Results and industry feedback
  • Rust-Oleum: zero back injuries over two years, across 280,000 injury-free work hours Apex2 case study
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The hazard

Where the load
actually comes from.

Risks include:

  • repetitive lifting and lowering of components
  • handling heavy or awkward loads
  • carrying materials between workstations
  • frequent bending, twisting, reaching or working in constrained postures.

Assembly workers are also exposed to static postures for prolonged periods, repetitive movements and forceful exertions when fitting, holding or positioning parts. Poorly designed workstations, production line pace pressures and fatigue from sustained physical work compound the risk across every shift.

Reducing the risk,
and meeting the duty.

In Australia and other regulated jurisdictions, employers have a legal duty to identify, assess and control the risks of musculoskeletal disorders, including back injuries, arising from hazardous manual tasks. The focus of WHS legislation is prevention through risk elimination (if possible) and engineering solutions rather than reliance on lifting technique training alone.

Safe Work Australia
Reducing back injury risk and meeting WHS requirements in manufacturing and assembly operations:
  1. Identify hazardous manual tasks
  2. Assess risk factors in those tasks SA2050 can assist organisations assess and quantify risk for each manual task
  3. Minimise risks using the hierarchy of control Apex2 is a mechanical aid designed to reduce risk when lifting and bending
  4. Provide information, instruction and training SA2050 provides comprehensive training and assessment of the Apex2 in the workplace
  5. Review control measures

The easy wins are already gone.

Lift training, job rotation and better racking have all been done. The injuries that are left are the ones the work itself produces, and they follow the plant into every audit.

What one back injury costs
  1. An entry on the injury register that follows the plant into every audit.
  2. A station short a trained operator, at a line speed that does not slow down.
  3. A gap in production output while a replacement is trained up to line speed.
  4. A restricted-duty roster your supervisors have to build around.
The other operations
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