FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics Unites with National Safety Council and Top Industry Employers in Pledge to Reduce Most Common Workplace Injury by 25% by 2025

Joins effort to impact millions of workers worldwide

LIVONIA, MI., March 2, 2023 – Underscoring the company’s ongoing commitment to worker wellbeing, Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics  joined the National Safety Council, America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate, and nearly 150 of the nation’s leading employers in signing the MSD Pledge to address the most common workplace injury: musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs.

Born out of the Council’s groundbreaking MSD Solutions Lab program – launched in 2021 to tackle this omnipresent safety challenge, which affects nearly a quarter of the world’s population – the pledge represents a first-of-its-kind commitment from employers to identify and reduce MSDs across workplaces worldwide. Along with NSC and Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics, leading organizations such as Amazon, Boeing, Concentra, Cummins, John Deere, Shutterfly, and United Airlines as well as small businesses from a range of sectors have signed the MSD Pledge.

“The health and wellbeing of our employees is our top priority, and we are committed to finding new ways to ensure we are fostering a culture of safety. We are proud to join NSC and other organizations by taking this important step in mitigating MSDs at our company,” said [Insert Name], [Insert Title], Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics. “This pledge not only underscores our own focus on employee and community wellbeing, but it puts a spotlight on the importance of this issue, so workers across the globe can return home safely every day.”

The MSD Pledge aims to inspire a global movement across industries that improves workplace safety, reduces MSD risk and enhances the wellbeing of all workers. Specifically, Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics is pledging to:

• Reduce risks by analyzing the causes of MSD injuries across operations and investing in solutions and practices that reduce risks to workers.
• Innovate and collaborate by leveraging best practices and sharing learnings and countermeasures to expand upon innovations to improve safety practices.
• Build an organizational culture that values safety by promoting a workplace where safety excellence, transparency, and accurate reporting are equally valued, and where everyone, at every level of the organization, is accountable for the safety and health of workers.
• Commit to a significant reduction of MSD injuries by creating safer outcomes for millions of workers worldwide and reducing MSD risk and subsequent injuries by 25% by 2025.

“While there are no sirens associated with this issue, its impact is alarming and we’re asking workplaces everywhere to join us in this effort to keep workers safe,” said Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO. “At NSC, our mission is not only to save lives, but also to prevent injuries and the MSD Pledge is an important step forward to help solve this problem. That way, people can spend more time doing the things they love with the people they love.”

The MSD Pledge strives to create safer workplaces and healthier communities by addressing the leading cause of workplace injuries across all industries. MSDs are the most common cause of disability, involuntary retirement and limitations to gainful employment, and they also disproportionately affect frontline workers and communities of color, making risk reduction a critical step in creating more equitable workplaces.

In addition to accessing free resources and new safety innovations to help reduce MSD risks, MSD pledge members will participate in the MSD Solutions Index, an annual company index that analyzes the benefits of the pledge over time. The index will aggregate data on risk reduction strategies, workplace safety culture, and innovation and collaboration, while also identifying areas for targeted action and uncovering trends to inform future approaches in solving this critical workplace safety issue.

To learn more about the MSD Pledge, the MSD Solutions Lab, or the risks associated with MSDs, visit https://www.nsc.org/workplace/safety-topics/msd.

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About Sandalwood Engineering & Ergonomics

Sandalwood is an engineering and ergonomics professional services firm. Sandalwood designs and executes strategic programs for manufacturers which reduce their work-related risks to quality, productivity and employee health. By providing knowledge, research, technology and resources, Sandalwood supports its clients from the executive level to the factory floor.

About the National Safety Council

The National Safety Council is America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for more than 100 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.