WHY THE CASE STUDY

   •  To explore other ways to incorporate wellness into ergonomics

   •  To determine how impactful the BAX-U device could be to assist in the ergonomic corrective action process

   •  To enable Seattle City Light employee to have additional, proven avenues to explore to improve their well being

HOW PARTICIPANTS WERE CHOSEN

   •  Participants had to meet certain criteria to be eligible for the small case study (53)

      o  Previous users of our online risk tool

      o  Show discomfort levels in areas we felt BAX-U could impact

         • Neck

         • Shoulders

         • Back

         • Head position

HOW PARTICIPANTS WERE CHOSEN

   •  Participants had to also:

      o  Be willing to follow the guidelines of the study

   •  Complete an initial assessment

   •  Wear the device as prescribed by Dr. Ghassemi, inventor of BAX-U

   •  Complete an exit survey

INITIAL RESPONSES

   •  When fitting was conducted

      o  5/53 (9%) required a different size from what they chose from the size chart

      o  49/53 (92.4%) felt an immediate difference once the fitting was completed

      o  30/53 (56.6%) felt immediate pain relief once fitted

INITIAL DATA

   •  52/53 (98.1%) completed the initial online risk assessment prior to fitting

   •  Participants were restricted to the Seattle Municipal Tower and our nearby 901 Location

   •  Risk categories for the participants

      o  High Risk- 20 (38%)

      o  Medium Risk- 13 (24%)

      o  Low Risk- 20 (38%)

INITIAL DATA

   •  Overall risk score for the group - 853

   •  Overall score for the utility currently - 300

   •  Lost productivity time - 41 minutes

   •  Lost productivity for the utility - 30

   •  Annual cost of lost productivity for the group - $14,717

   •  Annual cost for the utility (per person) - 10,955

INITIAL RESPONSES

   •  All participants had some form of elevated discomfort that the BAX-U was designed to help relieve

   •  As the fittings were being conducted

      o  23 additional employees wanted to know about the study

      o  A list was being taken to ensure follow up with those employees

OVERVIEW

   •  Survey period: May 14-June 7, 2018

   •  Total responses: 34

Q1: DID YOU FEEL AN IMMEDIATE CHANGE IN YOUR POSTURE WITH THE DEVICE?

Q2: HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU BEEN WEARING THE DEVICE

Q3: HAS WEARING THE BAX-U DEVICE MADE YOU MORE AWARE OF BETTER WORK ERGONOMICS?

Q4: WHICH OF THESE ARE MOST AFFECTED WHEN WEARING BAX-U

Q5: HAVE YOU WORN THE BAX-U WHILE EXERCISING?

Q6: WOULD YOU RECOMMEND BAX-U TO SOMEONE YOU KNOW?

EXIT ASSESSMENT RESULTS

   •  Risk categories for the participants oHigh Risk- 10 (18.8%)

      o  Medium Risk- 13 (24.4%)

      o  Low Risk- 30 (56.8%)

CONCLUSIONS TO DATE

   •  Case Study with Think Healthy using the BAX-U posture system

      o Using the device for 3 months data showed

         o  63% improvement in overall discomfort levels

         o  75% improvement in neck and back discomfort specifically

         o  45% improvement in employee risk score (853/385)

         o  21% drop in lost productivity minutes (41/32)

         o  20% drop in lost productivity costs per employee ($14,717/11,774)

CONCLUSIONS TO DATE

   •  Success with this small case study has allowed us to begin work on planning additional case studies

      o A second study using wearables (2019)

         •  Use of a shirt style device

         •  Include field/industrial workers this time

      o Introducing the potential use of exoskeletons at the utility (Late 2018/early 2019)

         •  Limited job tasks

         •  Non-energized work only

CONCLUSIONS TO DATE

   •  Additional Metrics regarding this case study will be made available at Ergo Expo in August

      o 24 August 8:30am-9:30am

         •  PM9 - Building and Maintaining a Successful Ergonomics Process

Bax-U product page link

QUESTIONS

Keith Osborne Ergonomist Seattle City Light

Keith.Osborne@seattle.gov

Dr Romina Ghassemi D.C. Think Healthy Inc.

drg@bax-u.com