Low back pain affects a large proportion of employees in all sectors of activity. How does work break our backs? How can we prevent the onset of this pain? Rather than a turn of the back, let's answer the question.

Exoskeletons raise a lot of hopes in terms of improving working conditions, particularly in terms of reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). However, they cannot be considered as a miracle solution. Their use raises health and safety issues. From the definition of the need for physical assistance to its integration in real-life situations, a structured and collective approach is essential.

With its 6,000 employees in France, FM Logistic is a major player in the logistics sector. To reduce work-related accidents and illnesses, this company is looking for solutions, by testing what is on the market... but also by developing its own exoskeleton.

The Grand Paris Express construction sites are also an opportunity for innovation, on a large and smaller scale, to improve working conditions. This is illustrated by the first use of a vertical tunnel boring machine in France, and by a drilling tool designed to reduce workers' exposure to vibrations and dust.

Transforming its activity can be a question of survival for some companies. Faced with the problem of staff turnover, the SME Gattegno embarked on a policy of robotization of its activity in 2006, with the aim of improving the working conditions of its employees.

In Sochaux, the PSA Group's historic site is being transformed into a factory of the future. This is a gradual transformation at the car manufacturer, which places great emphasis on ergonomics and allows employees to test new technologies.

Designer of machines for the factory of the future, Coriolis Composites, based in Morbihan, has won over the biggest names in the aeronautics industry with its robotic fiber placement technology. Working closely with its customers, the company anticipates the risks associated with the use of the equipment it develops.

Les Ateliers du bocage manages a large amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The Deux-Sèvres-based company has launched various projects to improve working conditions, notably by focusing on ergonomics. A ventilation system adapted to the activity of sorting laser cartridges has also been installed, thanks to the technical assistance of the Carsat Centre-Ouest and the Limoges Interregional Physical Measurement Center.

They are the design engineers of tomorrow. At the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard, these students trained in ergonomics devote several days in their final year to the analysis of work situations in companies. Three of them went to Monts & Terroirs, a cheese maturing and cutting site in Poligny, in the Jura region.

The European Sports Rehabilitation Center (CERS) in Capbreton, in the Landes region of France, assists athletes following surgery. The re-education program that is offered to them aims of course at allowing the rapid recovery of their capacities, but also at preventing the occurrence of new injuries. In some cases, it includes a psychological component in addition to the physical exercises.