Walk-behind floor scrubbers, ride-on floor scrubbers and body aches?! Is there a connection?
According to the European Agency for Health and Safety at work, 74% of people employed as interior cleaners reported experiencing muscular aches, pains and discomfort over a period of one year. Of that 74%, 52% sought medical advice, with the main body parts affected including the lower back, neck, knees, shoulders, wrists and hands.
The causes of these pains often include mopping systems and buffing machines (e.g. walk-behind floor scrubbers or ride-on floor scrubbers) as well as vacuum cleaners.
We recently caught up with Al McCullough, Customer Success Manager at Avidbots, to discuss this topic. Al’s role at Avidbots is to work hand-in-hand with our customers, including training new clients on how to use Neo, our industry-leading autonomous robot floor scrubber, as well as executing customer demonstrations.
When discussing the topic of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) with Al, he quickly shared a story. During a recent demonstration, Al asked the custodian — we’ll call him Jim — how he currently cleans the floor. Jim revealed he uses the mop and bucket method, before quickly showing off his mopping skills. Although Jim’s mopping skills were detailed and accurate, there’s a catch.
In talking with Jim, he said he swipes his mop well over one thousand times a day, back and forth, for at least an hour. Al joked that he must have rock-hard shoulders and arms. He laughed, but he was more serious when he said, “Yeah, but my back aches every night!”
As we outlined above, repetitive motion strain including mopping, sweeping or pushing a walk-behind floor scrubber (or operating a ride-on floor scrubber) are leading causes of MSDs. It’s a workplace injury affecting countless custodial staff around the globe that should be taken seriously.
It’s time to park the walk-behind floor scrubber for good and leave that mop and bucket in the closet.
Autonomous floor scrubbing robots like Neo reassign labor to KPI-boosting tasks that matter to your business, leaving the back-breaking work of floor care to robots. Neo delivers a truly autonomous clean that is regular, consistent and measurable.
The benefits don’t end there. Your employees will be healthier, happier and more productive, and you’ll have fewer workplace injuries!
It’s time to give Jim the right tools for the job, making him as effective and productive as possible while saving his back and long-term health.
To learn more about Neo, including adding it to your team, please contact us.
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