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Safety, wellbeing and ergonomics in logistics often concentrate on office workers and warehouse operators. Workplace wellbeing should also focus on service technicians who are constantly on the road servicing trucks. As part of a broader effort to improve working conditions, our Marketing & Sales Company in Romania started a project around body posture and behaviour, specifically for their field staff, to raise awareness. It’s not just about policies creating a supportive and efficient work environment; it’s about creating healthy habits and self-care. In light of the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, an annual event organised by EU-OSHA, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, we run you through how that works.
Ensuring that field service technicians are in top health
Technicians often drive long distances and are often on duty for extended shifts. Heavy workloads, isolation and challenging working conditions can cause loss of focus and lead to stress. Realistic work schedules and regular breaks help improve productivity.
Besides regular health check-ups, provide field service technicians comprehensive safety training, as you would any operator. Technicians potentially work at heights, handle heavy equipment and can be exposed to hazardous materials. Ensure they are trained on how to handle possible hazards.
When organising workshops, lectures or events it’s important to include field staff or to make the content available for them to consult. Offer access to training programmes and support services. Effective safety management can help reduce injuries, illness and associated costs.
Raising awareness about ergonomic risks
Providing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is just one aspect of creating the right working conditions. Ensuring technicians are aware of the risks associated with working in variable, sometimes difficult working environments is just as important. Repetitive movements, poor body posture and heavy lifting could eventually lead to musculoskeletal disorders.
That is why Toyota Material Handling Romania addresses specific risks in field service. For Culture Week 2024 and 2025 - a recurring pan-European initiative with activities focusing on employees’ health, safety and wellbeing - they decided to promote healthy habits and encourage self-care.
Using AI technology, the technicians’ body movements were analysed and data was individually discussed with a specialist. This approach has proven to significantly improve the wellbeing and performance of the service technicians who participated.
Mihai Potop, Service Director at Toyota Material Handling Romania, is very pleased with the reactions.
“The training was very well received by the participants,” he admits, “They really understood what movements have a negative impact on their body and when to pay special attention to how they move or what to watch out for when a colleague is doing wrong movements. That is why we want to continue the project.”
Utilising AI technology
Health monitoring through technology isn't just about being on trend. Utilising technology or wearables, such as exoskeletons or smartwatches, supports and monitors a person’s health in real-time, providing valuable data insights. Of course, equipping all field service technicians with such devices is costly. Health tracking apps can be a viable alternative. Toyota Material Handling Romania looked for a way to combine freely available technology with expert advice.
For the 2-day workshop, service technicians were filmed, capturing the most important movements in their daily tasks and then AI technology was applied to the videos. The programme showed the wrong movements and bad postures. On the second day, in the morning, the technicians had general training related to risk prevention and how they should do the correct movements. Then in the afternoon, the specialist, which is a physiotherapist, met with all the participants for a detailed personal debrief.
The data collected was analysed to provide valuable insights. For instance, if a technician's body posture showed irregular patterns, the expert pointed these out to the individual. This allows each individual to adjust what might have become routine behaviour and prevents potential health issues from escalating.
Adrian Pana, service technician at Toyota Material Handling Romania, shares his experience: “It’s one thing to read some information about risk prevention or to hear someone tell you how to do things, but to have somebody film you and then run AI over the footage and say look, here you are, is an entirely different thing.”
Focus on field operations
Realistic work schedules, investing in continuous training and making good use of technology will keep your technicians in optimal condition and help them perform to the best of their ability. Keeping technicians healthy increases their efficiency and productivity, resulting in better service, which will have a positive overall impact.
Prioritising the health and wellbeing of field service technicians is crucial for both the individual and the business because they are the backbone of any great business success.
