UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / September 02, 2026 / Wearable technology, including robotic exoskeletons and smart glasses, is increasingly being trialled across UK warehouses as businesses look for new ways to reduce physical strain on staff carrying out repetitive manual handling tasks.

While Pallet Trucks UK welcomes innovation in this area, the company says that for most businesses today the more reliable route to reducing injury risk remains proven, well-specified handling equipment such as pallet trucks, stackers and lift tables.

Exoskeletons work by supporting the body during lifting and carrying tasks, reducing the load on muscles and joints. Early trials have shown some promising results, and the technology is likely to play a growing role in warehouse safety over time.

However, wearable devices are still relatively new to widespread industrial use, with limited long-term data on their effectiveness across different tasks, body types and working environments compared with decades of established practice around correctly specified handling equipment.

Phil Chesworth, Managing Director at Pallet Trucks UK, said, "It's genuinely exciting to see this kind of innovation being trialled, and there's no doubt it has a role to play eventually. But businesses making decisions about safety today need to be realistic about where the evidence stands right now.

"We've got decades of understanding about how the right pallet truck, stacker or lift table reduces strain on the people using it, matched carefully to the load, the task and the environment. That's a well-proven, low-risk way to protect staff, and it's available now, rather than something businesses need to wait to see borne out over years of wider adoption.

"None of this is to say exoskeletons or wearable tech won't earn their place eventually. But if a business is weighing up where to focus its safety budget today, our honest view is that getting the fundamentals right, proper equipment, correctly specified and well maintained, is still the most reliable investment available.

Wearable technology is worth watching closely, but it shouldn't be seen as a substitute for the basics that businesses can put in place right now.

For more information, please visit: www.pallettrucksuk.co.uk.