Employees equipped with exoskeletons: towards the end of arduous work?

Thibaud Hue 09h32, 02 April 2023

To cope with the arduousness of work, some companies are already putting solutions in place with the help of new technologies. This is the case of this factory in Seine-Maritime, which Europe 1 visited, and where employees use exoskeletons to make their bodies less tired.

"It makes us want to come back the next day"

Two scratch strokes hanging from his hips, Ludovic, 30, a factory worker, wears every day a mechanical belt, an exoskeleton that supports his movements. "You can bend down, bend your legs a lot. Gestures that we were not used to doing before and that we do now, respecting our backs."

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And it was time. These workers lift the steel molds that carve perfume bottles every day, up to four tons per day per person.

Wilfried, who had been employed for 18 years, couldn't take it anymore. "I was borderline, I almost had hernia surgery. I did physiotherapy and at that time I was not sure to continue the job. But having worn the exoskeleton, it's true that it relieves us and it makes us want to come back the next day because we still feel fitter, "he says.

A cost of 3,000 euros per exoskeleton

An exoskeleton of 3,000 euros, but above all a gain for health, explains Aurélie Parisis, hygiene and safety animator. "The load will be distributed on the engines we have on the side. The more we spread the vertebrae, the more we will release the disc. Going to 64 seems complicated to me so I told myself that we had to find a solution."

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Since May 2020, three employees have been equipped and the company ensures that it will invest in other exoskeletons at the request of employees.