NSC Marks 5 Years of Fighting Musculoskeletal Injuries — and the Data Shows It’s Working

Nearly 300 organizations representing more than 3 million employees worldwide have joined the National Safety Council’s MSD Solutions Lab since its launch in 2021. The milestone, celebrated at the annual Workplace Safety Summit in June 2026, offers something rare in workplace safety: proof that coordinated action produces measurable results.

The $19 Billion Problem

Musculoskeletal disorders — sprains, strains, and repetitive motion injuries — impact nearly 25% of the global population and cost U.S. private sector businesses more than $19 billion annually, according to Occupational Health & Safety. These are the most common type of workplace injury, yet they remain the most preventable.

What the Benchmarking Data Shows

According to the NSC’s most recent benchmarking data, nearly 75% of participating employers improved their workplace safety scores over the last three years. That’s not a marginal gain — it represents a fundamental shift in how organizations approach ergonomic risk.

The initiative has published more than 50 research reports, toolkits, and educational resources since its inception, and has hosted annual challenges to identify emerging safety technologies. More than $1 million in grants has been distributed to fund practical injury prevention solutions.

Why This Matters for Your Organization

The NSC’s approach validates what ergonomics professionals have argued for years: MSD prevention is not a cost center — it’s a performance multiplier. Organizations that invest in ergonomic assessment, worker training, and physical support technologies consistently outperform peers on both safety and productivity metrics.

The open-source tools published by the MSD Solutions Lab are available to any employer. The NSC MSD Pledge provides a structured framework for setting reduction targets, benchmarking progress, and accessing peer-validated interventions.

The Exoskeleton Connection

Among the emerging technologies identified through the Lab’s annual innovation challenges, passive exoskeletons have emerged as one of the most promising interventions for high-repetition, high-load tasks. Unlike active robotic systems, passive devices require no batteries, no software updates, and minimal training — making them deployable at scale across diverse workforces.

A separate Risk & Insurance report published in July 2026 found that AR tools, exoskeletons, and AI systems all show measurable promise for reducing musculoskeletal injuries in industrial settings — with exoskeletons showing the strongest evidence base for physical load reduction.

The Takeaway

Five years of data confirms what early adopters suspected: coordinated, data-driven MSD prevention works. If your organization hasn’t joined the MSD Pledge, the evidence is now overwhelming. The question is no longer whether to act — it’s how fast you can deploy proven interventions before the next injury occurs.

Sources: Occupational Health & Safety; National Safety Council MSD Solutions Lab; Risk & Insurance