On Dec. 21, the New York State Senate established the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Program as an amendment to the state’s labor law, signed into action by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Set to take effect June 1, Assembly Bill A8907A requires employers to implement injury reduction programs aimed at identifying and minimizing the risks of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders — work-related injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints and more — among workers performing material handling tasks.

The bill applies to employers with at least 100 employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 employees across one more warehouse distribution centers in New York.

Additionally, the act mandates that employers develop and enforce formal injury reduction programs that assess workplace risks, minimize musculoskeletal injury hazards and include necessary injuries.

Yomaaris Sanchez-Orona, an associate at labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins, provided the following analysis of the bill to The National Law Review:

“By June 19, 2025, covered employers must enlist the help of a qualified ergonomist to evaluate each job, process, or operation — “or a representative number of … jobs, processes, or operations of identical work activities” — and provide a written evaluation for risk factors that cause or are likely to cause musculoskeletal injuries. Risk factors for evaluation include, but are not limited to, “rapid pace, forceful exertions, repetitive motions, twisting, bending, and awkward postures and combinations thereof” that may cause injuries. Worksite evaluations must also include a determination as to whether any employee who is exposed to such risk factors is subject to potential or actual adverse action arising from an employer’s use of quotas to determine employee assignments.

When a risk factor is identified, the covered employer must correct the risk within 30 days. If the risk cannot be remedied within thirty days, the employer must revise its corrective action, as needed, and provide a schedule for proposed corrections. If a risk cannot be eliminated, the employer must minimize the exposure “to the extent feasible,” including:

• • “engineering controls and redesigning work stations to change shelving heights, provide adjustable fixtures or tool redesign”; and
  • “administrative controls, such as job rotation which reduces the exposure to risk factors, reduced work pacing or additional work breaks.”

In addition, a covered employer’s efforts taken to eliminate or reduce risk factors must be recorded. If an employee or the employee’s representative requests a copy of the worksite evaluation, the employer must provide a written copy of the results of the evaluation, at no cost, within one business day of such a request.”

The rest of Sanchez-Orona’s analysis here, which includes injury reduction training recommendations.