I. Introduction
The total cost of workplace lower back injuries in the United States alone exceeds $100 billion per year [1]. Lower back injury is prevalent in manufacturing, mining, construction, and healthcare industries because workers engage in frequent pulling and lifting activities as part of their jobs [2]–[4]. Risk factors for lower back injuries include improper techniques for lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, bending, or twisting of the trunk [2], [5], and factors related to individual workers such as body mass index and history of back injuries [6]. In [2], the authors concluded that the risk for lower back injuries could be reduced by a factor of 10.7 if appropriate guidelines are followed by the workers. It is conceivable that a responsible employer would enact policies and best practices for its employees to follow. While training and retraining workers are important steps in helping workers to comply with these policies and best practices, alone they are inadequate in increasing compliance and reducing the rate of lower back injuries [7]. We envision a nonintrusive easy-to-use system that could be used to monitor the activities of the workers and alert them on detection of any noncompliant activities in real time. Such a system could enhance workers’ compliance to policies and best practices and help build a positive culture for staying healthy and being productive in workplaces.