NSC, Amazon partner on musculoskeletal disorders

The National Safety Council and Amazon.com Inc. announced a five-year partnership on Thursday aimed at creating new ways to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among workers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Seattle-based Amazon and Itasca, Illinois-based NSC will form an international advisory council of safety experts, corporations and researchers from both the public and private sector to address these common injuries, NSC said in a statement.

Amazon has also agreed to contribute $12 million to NSC to go toward research and small business and university grants for the purposes of studying practical MSD solutions. The distribution giant and NSC are also urging other companies to proactively track indicators of MSDs, implement prevention programs and share best practices with other organizations worldwide.

Currently, MSDs make up about 40% of Amazon’s reported workplace injuries, said Heather MacDougall, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide workplace safety and health in a virtual press briefing Wednesday.