What happened when an airline ground crew put SafeLift™ to the test | Aviation

A major international airline set out to answer a question that can make or break a wearable safety program: Would baggage and cargo teams actually wear a powered exosuit during their workday? Across winter and summer trials, baggage handlers, logistics drivers, and cargo associates wore SafeLift™ powered exosuits throughout their shift. The trial validated three applications for rollout and gave the team clear direction on where SafeLift™ could have the most impact.

The challenge: High-demand lifting on a tight turnaround clock

Aviation ground handling happens in the 45 minutes between one flight and the next. Workers lift bags from bins to belts, unload and transfer freight, or build cargo pallets, all while working around equipment, vehicles, space constraints, and departure schedules.

Many of those lifts happen from awkward positions where ideal lifting techniques can be difficult to maintain, putting workers in positions no ergonomist would choose. The injury data reflected it, too:

• 46% had sustained a back injury while handling baggage
• 60% had recurring back injuries
• 71% experienced back pain more than once at work
• 17% reported daily pain

Further, earlier multi-airline research found that roughly 8.5% of baggage handlers sustained a back injury each year, with workers identifying heavy baggage and restricted working postures as leading causes.

For the airline, the challenge was finding a solution that could provide meaningful support without restricting movement, slowing the operation down, or getting left on the shelf.

The approach: Let the work decide

The airline brought in the SafeLift™ powered exosuit to conduct trials across baggage, logistics, and cargo operations, with testing scheduled during both February and July/August to reflect winter conditions and peak summer heat.

That search led the airline to a new kind of solution: SafeLift™, a lightweight powered exosuit worn like a backpack. SafeLift™ kicks in when workers lift, taking load off the lower back to reduce strain and fatigue during repetitive material-handling tasks. Integrated sensors also capture movement data, giving safety leaders visibility into which ergonomic risks are showing up on the job.

To see whether SafeLift™ could help address its back injury problem, the airline put it to the test across baggage, logistics, and cargo operations. Trials ran in both February and July/August to reflect winter conditions and peak summer heat.

Workers wore the wearable exosuit during their entire shift, with their direct feedback serving as one of the most important measures of success.

Three prominent applications emerged as clear fits, each characterized by frequent lifting and reaching – exactly the type of movement SafeLift™ is designed to support.

Across all three applications, SafeLift™ reduced lifting load and back strain, with battery life that lasted the shift, a fit that worked across the crew, and quick on/off times that kept the operation moving.

What workers said – and what we learned

The trial assessed SafeLift™’s lift-assistance capabilities and identified the factors that helped to drive consistent worker adoption of the exosuits.

The support was noticeable: In arrivals, reclaim, and logistics transfer tasks, workers described support across most bags while retaining full range of motion, an important pairing, since assistance that restricts movement gets abandoned quickly in a fast turnaround. Workers specifically reported less strain and less discomfort in the back after performing these tasks.

Cooling made a difference: During the summer trial, 95% of workers preferred using in SafeLift™. The feedback validated the need for a cooling solution in warmer conditions while also identifying an opportunity to make it lighter and more integrated into the system.

The system fit real-world workflows: Logistics drivers preferred to remove it while driving and wear it for manual handling. The 20–30-second on/off time wasn't disruptive, which shows the system works for mixed driving and handling roles, not just dedicated lifting positions.

The results: A clear rollout path and clearer coaching opportunities

During the trial, SafeLift™ offloaded 15,875 kg – nearly 35,000 pounds of cumulative loading – from workers’ backs.

But, thanks to the VerveInsight™ analytics platform that collects data about movements, the evaluation also gave the airline a more detailed view of how workers were moving during some of the operation’s most demanding tasks.

VerveInsight™ identified two priority ergonomic risk indicators:

• Twisting was the highest observed risk indicator.
• Excessive forward bending ranked second.

For the airline, those findings created an opportunity to pair powered lift assistance with more focused ergonomic coaching. Rather than relying only on general safe-lifting guidance, safety leaders could reinforce specific behaviors – such as pivoting with the feet instead of twisting through the torso and reducing deep forward reaches when possible.