Amazon will launch WorkingWell, a program that gives employees physical, mental and nutritional support, across its entire U.S. operations network by the end of 2021, according to a May 17 CNBC report.
The wide-scale rollout is part of Amazon's efforts to cut workplace injury and illness rates by 50 percent by 2025. Amazon launched the WorkingWell pilot in 2019; since then, the program has reached 859,000 employees across 350 Amazon sites in North America and Europe.
"We want them to be healthy and safe and feel cared about and proud to work for Amazon," Heather MacDougall, vice president of worldwide workplace health and safety at Amazon, told CNBC. Employee health and wellness "is not just a talking point," she said.
One of the elements being added to the program in the U.S. is daily site meetings, called health and safety huddles, for operations leaders and small groups of employees near workstations to watch short interactive videos on topics such as gripping and handling, pushing and pulling, and nutrition. Amazon also will have dedicated wellness spaces within buildings for activities like voluntary stretching and interactive videos.
The WorkingWell program also will include videos covering mindfulness practices like meditation as well as interactive kiosks that promote healthy eating.
Amazon also said it is working with universities on workplace safety research, including to better understand musculoskeletal disorders, which represent about 40 percent of work-related injuries at Amazon, according to the report.