How does Naval Group fight strain injuries?
In a few years, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have risen to the top of the list of occupational diseases in France. According to health insurance, in 2015, MSDs accounted for more than 87% of recognized occupational diseases resulting in a stoppage of work or financial compensation due to after effects. A scourge that costs companies EUR 1 billion in contributions every year and 10 million working days lost.
Ergonomist and Prevention Manager at NavalGroup, Bernard Boulle discusses the approach and the actions undertaken.
"Naval Group has always fought against occupational diseases and accidents at work, including hand related accidents. Two principles of our Occupational Health Policy, the “zero accidents at work” and the “gesture well done”, converge the quality of work and the quality of life at work, while preserving the safety of employees. For this, we are continuously developing ergonomics in the work situation.” says Bernard Boulle, and continues.“In 2014, we carried out an ergonomic mapping of our workstations. In parallel, we interviewed the field via a questionnaire on MSDs. We renewed these studies in 2017 and 2020. It gives us an overview on the constraints of each position and on musculoskeletal disorders of the lower and upper limbs. Since then, we have carried out targeted actions on the back, then on the upper limbs. In 2017, we refined and developed one hundred actions. For work situations where we did not have solutions available, technically and financially, we looked at an emerging and innovative solution, exoskeletons."
Since 2019, we have been testing the Ironhand® glove from Bioservo Technologies. Among other things, metalworkers hits metal sheets with a sledgehammer to form up the metal parts and during welding and deformation operations. We evaluated the usefulness of this glove for hammering operations, already the first tests were positive. Next, we assessed the impact of the glove on operators' vibration exposures. To our surprise, we measured a very large gain on the vibration levels for the use of the glove with the sledge hammer and a lesser degree for the use of the pneumatic needle gun."
For more information, please contact:
Christophe Pialot, Sales Director, Bioservo Technologies AB
Phone: +46 (0)8 21 17 10
Mail: christophe.pialot@bioservo.com
Bernard Boulle, Manager de prévention SST/ENV/Ergonome, Naval Group
Mail: bernard.boulle@naval-group.com
About Bioservo
Bioservo Technologies AB (publ) is a world leading company in wearable muscle strengthening systems for people in need of extra strength and endurance. All our innovative products and systems are designed to keep people strong, healthy and efficient. The company has a unique global position within soft exoskeleton technology for the hand, both for industrial applications to improve the health for workers and to improve quality of life for people with reduced muscle strength.
Bioservo Technologies was founded in 2006 in collaboration between researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology and a doctor at Karolinska University Hospital. Bioservo Technologies is a Swedish public limited company with headquarters in Stockholm.
FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8-52800399, info@fnca.se is the company’s Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North
For more information, please visit www.bioservo.com
About Naval Group
Naval Group is the European leader in naval defence. Naval Group uses its extraordinary know-how, unique industrial resources and capacity to arrange innovative strategic partnerships to meet its customers’ requirements. As a system-integrator and prime contractor, the group designs, produces and supports submarines and surface ships. It also supplies services to shipyards and naval bases. Attentive to corporate social responsibility, Naval Group adheres to the United Nations Global Compact. The group reports revenues of 3.3 billion euros and has a workforce of 15,798 (data for 2020).
