The National Safety Council (NSC) has marked five years of progress through its MSD Solutions Lab during its annual Workplace Safety Summit, celebrating the initiative’s role in reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in workplaces around the world.
Established in 2021 with funding from Amazon, the MSD Solutions Lab has brought together employers, researchers and safety leaders to tackle MSDs, which remain the world’s most common workplace injury.
Tackling a major workplace health issue
MSDs, including sprains and strains, affect nearly one-quarter of the global population. In the United States alone, they cost private sector businesses more than $19 billion every year, according to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.
Beyond the financial impact, MSDs can continue to affect workers’ quality of life long after the working day has ended.
Held during National Safety Month, this year’s Workplace Safety Summit brought together safety professionals, businesses and industry partners to share innovative approaches to preventing musculoskeletal injuries.
MSD Pledge continues to grow
During the event, NSC highlighted the continued expansion of its MSD Pledge initiative, which now includes almost 300 organisations representing more than three million employees worldwide.
Data from the MSD Solutions Index benchmarking survey also showed that nearly 75% of participating employers have improved their workplace safety scores over the past three years.
Research, innovation and investment
Over the past five years, the MSD Solutions Lab has published more than 50 publicly available research reports, case studies, educational resources and practical toolkits.
The initiative has also launched annual Safety Innovation Challenges to identify emerging technologies that can help prevent musculoskeletal disorders and has invested more than $1 million through grant programmes supporting workplace safety innovation and practical injury prevention solutions.
NSC is encouraging employers of all sizes to join the MSD Pledge community and access the free resources and tools available to help reduce workplace injuries and better protect workers.
Lorraine Martin, NSC CEO, said: “Five years ago, we set out to fundamentally change how organisations approach one of the most persistent workplace safety challenges.
“Today, the MSD Solutions Lab is helping organisations safeguard millions of workers and turn awareness into action through research, innovation and collaboration.
“This progress shows what is possible when industry leaders, employers and communities come together with a shared commitment to protect what matters most – people.”
