The costs of workplace injuries and accidents may be rising. This startup’s hardware could cut those dramatically.

BY KIT EATON @KITEATON

Photos: Courtesy company

Many workplace accidents happen because people are only human. Heavy objects slip, causing falls and back injuries, or worse. Physical strains and other harms, traditionally top the list of workers’ workplace safety worries, (though less tangible concerns, like mental well-being and burnout are becoming more prominent). Workplace injuries still happen, and reports say that their cost may be rising.

Of course there are things you can do to prevent injuries, starting with guidelines and procedural level training, and also physical hardware. It’s this last category that Nashville-based HeroWear—a small company that makes a type of physical “wearable” safety device, a simpler version to powered rivals like SuitX—is targeting with surprisingly minimalist hardware. Inc. spoke to HeroWear’s CEO and cofounder Mark Harris to learn more about the exosuits his company makes.

“The problem we’re really trying to solve is just the fact that people—a huge percentage, about a third of the U.S. population and even larger globally—that just bend and lift for a living,” Harris explained. “Effectively they’re moving heavy boxes of materials,” or other objects from one place to another. The work happens in factories, building sites, or any one of a thousand other kinds of........

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