In his last letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pleaded with investors to increase attention to common workplace injuries that are surging in the manufacturing industry. Bezos hopes that the company will pay attention to workplace conditions for employees in the same fashion it is known to treat customers.
According to the company’s own research, musculoskeletal injuries account for roughly 40% of Amazon’s work-related injuries. Though this number is high, this is not uncommon among the manufacturing sector. The World Health Organization claims that musculoskeletal disorders affect nearly 1.7 billion workers globally. The company may be looking to reshape its reputation for it’s treatment of warehouse employees, as the company has received harsh criticism for harboring suboptimal working conditions despite Amazon’s astronomical market value and influence.
“If you read some of the news reports, you might think we have no care for employees,” Bezos explains,“In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not accurate. They’re sophisticated and thoughtful people who have options for where to work.”
Examples of common musculoskeletal disorders that stem from the workplace include tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, which often arise from repetitive motion and awkward body movements. Bezos believes that Amazon has a duty to come up with new solutions that will prevent these injuries from growing worse over time. Amazon is currently developing a company-wide strategy that will use algorithms to rotate workplace duties from employees, with hope that shifting tasks will prevent repetitive motion-related injuries.