Amazon rolling out new program to reduce employees work injuries

Amazon is making a major push into employee wellness with a   comprehensive physical and mental health initiative. 

The company’s new WorkingWell program provides employees with physical and mental activities, wellness exercises, and nutritional support. It will be launched across Amazon’s entire U.S. operations network by year-end, with the goal of cutting recordable incident rates by 50% by 2025.

The program is part of Amazon’s investment of more than $300 million into safety projects in 2021, and follows its 2019 entry into omnichannel employee wellness services with the Amazon Care offering. Amazon piloted aspects of WorkingWell in the U.S. in 2019, and the program has since expanded to 859,000 employees at 350 sites in North America and Europe. According to the retailer, the pilots helped decrease musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)-related injuries by 32% from 2019 to 2020.
 
The program is made up of various components covering training and conditioning, wellness services and technology. The elements include “health and safety huddles,” at which operations leaders and small groups of socially distanced employees gather near work stations and watch short interactive videos on rotating topics created by health and safety professionals and injury prevention specialists.  

It also includes dedicated wellness zones in Amazon’s operations buildings that feature interactive videos and written information to help employees proactively improve their health and wellness, and the placement of individual interactive kiosks in buildings. During shifts, employees can visit the “AmaZen” stations and watch short on wellbeing activities, including guided meditations, calming scenes with sounds and more. 

For a detailed listing of all the components in the program, click here.