The (Ergonomically) Hardest Job? Painting!

Painting is a hard job. Especially when you realize that most painters in construction do much more than painting alone. Masking, sanding, and plastering are some common tasks that the average painter also does. The key reason for what makes the job hard is the high physical work demand. This has, especially in the long-term, a significant impact on workers’ health. 

The Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment conducted a study among 69,117 workers across industries. The goal was to investigate the relation between age, physical work demands, and long-term sickness absence. Job groups which were highly physically demanding were likelier to experience long-term sickness absence, particularly as age increased. Construction workers generally have physically demanding jobs as bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters, and woodworkers were among the most affected trades. Yet it was painters that came out on top.

One of the key recommendations in this study was to consider someone’s age for any physically demanding tasks. Yet within the painting industry this is challenging. In 2022, the Painter Insight Monitor highlighted that only 7% of painters are under 35 years old and 25% were over 58. In other words, the most physically demanding jobs are done by people who are ideally less exposed to it. However, the recommendation to use assistive devices could make a difference.

At ROICO we believe that an assistive device could take some of the repetitive grunt work that is physically demanding. This would be good for the health and retaining the expertise and skills of a professional painter. Our collaborative robot tackles physically straining tasks, so the professional painter can focus on the tasks where their expertise counts the most.