What We Learned from Analyzing Over 500 Workplace Movements

Key trends, risks, and insights from Vergo’s AI-driven ergonomic assessments

At Vergo, we’ve spent the past year analyzing workplace movement data across a wide range of sectors—from warehouses and healthcare facilities to factories, fulfillment centres, and public works operations. Using our computer vision platform, we’ve processed more than 500 videos of real employees performing real tasks in real settings.

These weren’t staged demonstrations. They were recorded by safety professionals, supervisors, and frontline teams curious to see what their workers' movements looked like when viewed frame by frame. The results have been revealing—sometimes surprising—and have helped uncover meaningful patterns in how injuries develop and what can be done to prevent them.

In this post, we share five key insights from our growing movement database that help explain why so many ergonomic injuries go undetected until it’s too late—and what organizations can do to get ahead of the problem.

1. Most high-risk movements happen during ‘routine’ tasks

One of the most consistent patterns we observed is that high-risk postures and awkward movements are most likely to occur during routine, repetitive tasks—especially those that are perceived as low effort. This includes lifting lightweight boxes, scanning products, pushing carts, and reaching into storage bins.

Because these tasks aren’t physically intense on their own, they often fly under the radar. But when performed hundreds of times per shift, they add up. In fact, nearly 70% of the highest-risk postures detected by Vergo’s platform occurred in tasks that involved loads under 15 kilograms.

What this tells us: injury risk isn’t just about weight or force—it’s about repetition and body mechanics over time. Even a 10 kg box, if lifted with poor form dozens of times a day, can lead to cumulative strain on the lower back or shoulders.

2. Back flexion is the most frequent posture risk

Across all industries, the most commonly flagged ergonomic risk was excessive back flexion—typically from bending at the waist to pick up, push, or adjust an object. Our system identified back angles greater than 60 degrees in more than 40% of the clips we analyzed.

This was especially common in sectors like warehousing and long-term care, where employees are frequently required to reach low, adjust awkward objects, or lean forward while standing for long periods.

What’s critical here is that many workers don’t feel discomfort right away. In fact, in follow-up interviews, most workers whose videos flagged excessive spinal bending said they didn’t realize their back was that flexed. It had simply become part of their normal workflow.

By showing the exact angle of spinal posture over time, Vergo’s analysis makes it possible to coach these workers before discomfort sets in—and well before a formal WCB claim is ever filed.

3. Awkward shoulder positioning is more common than expected

Another standout trend was the high incidence of elevated or extended arm positions. In over one-third of assessments, workers were observed with arms above shoulder height, reaching forward beyond 30 cm, or abducting the arm to the side—all positions that put the shoulder under significant strain, especially when repeated.

These risks were most often seen in:

• Workers stocking shelves or reaching into deep bins

• Operators at stations with improperly placed tools

• Administrative staff whose monitors or keyboards were misaligned
  

Prolonged or repeated shoulder elevation is a major contributing factor to rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, and long-term shoulder impingement. In these cases, the fix is often straightforward—adjusting shelf heights, relocating work surfaces, or using assistive devices. But those changes don’t happen unless the risks are first detected and flagged.

4. New employees are more likely to display high-risk movement patterns

Across our sample, we found that new or recently hired employees were more likely to demonstrate risky postures—particularly in tasks involving lifting, pushing, or repeated reaching. Many of these workers had received general safety training but hadn’t yet developed task-specific muscle memory or ergonomic awareness.

This was particularly evident in video comparisons where two workers performed the same task: experienced employees tended to exhibit smoother, more neutral movements, while newer staff often rushed, twisted, or leaned unnecessarily.

This insight underscores the importance of integrating ergonomic awareness into onboarding—not just compliance-focused training, but actual visual coaching using footage of real tasks. Vergo’s platform supports this by allowing supervisors to record a worker’s first week on the job, generate a posture report, and offer personalized movement coaching before habits set in.

5. Posture awareness improves after just one feedback session

One of the most promising findings is that behaviour can change quickly when feedback is clear, visual, and personal. In a pilot program with a mid-sized logistics company, we observed a 47% improvement in overall posture scores among workers who received video-based movement reports and completed Vergo’s microlearning modules over just four weeks.

Rather than relying on generic safety posters or once-a-year training sessions, this approach gave workers immediate, visual insight into how they move—and how to move better. Workers reported feeling more confident, more aware of their movements, and better able to manage fatigue by making small adjustments throughout the day.

In other words, ergonomic improvement doesn’t have to be slow or expensive. When people can see how they move, they can change how they move.

What This Means for Safety Leaders

These findings point to a central truth: most ergonomic risks are invisible—until you take the time to look. They don’t appear in injury reports until the damage is done. They don’t show up in checklists unless someone knows what to look for. And they’re often hiding in the routine, not in the extreme.

That’s why Vergo’s data-driven approach is so powerful. By analyzing real movement data at scale, we’re not only uncovering hidden risks—we’re helping organizations build proactive safety cultures rooted in awareness, insight, and continuous improvement.

If you’re ready to start assessing real movements in your workplace, we’ll show you how. All you need is a short video. We’ll do the rest.

References

1. WorkSafeBC. (2023). Ergonomics and musculoskeletal injuries. https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/hazards-exposures/ergonomics

2. Institute for Work & Health. (2022). Ergonomics research and resources. https://www.iwh.on.ca/topics/ergonomics

3. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). (2023). Ergonomic hazards overview. https://www.ccohs.ca/topics/hazards/ergonomic/