The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Amazon have settled an investigation into the latter’s ergonomic safety practices at its U.S. warehouses, both sides shared Dec. 19.

OSHA had been probing the eCommerce marketplace’s ergonomic safety measures via inspections of 10 Amazon facilities beginning in the summer of 2022, resulting in 10 citations issued against the company. The settlement withdraws nine of them and requires Amazon to enhance ergonomic safety measures nationwide. Among the changes, Amazon must conduct ergonomic risk assessments, implement site-specific safety measures and ensure regular ergonomic training for employees. OSHA retains authority to inspect and enforce additional safety controls, if necessary.

As part of the settlement, Amazon agreed to a $145,000 penalty, representing over 90% of the amount originally assessed by OSHA.

“This corporate-wide settlement agreement focuses on improving conditions for several hundred thousand Amazon workers nationwide,” OSHA Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker said in OSHA’s Dec. 19 news release. “The agreement requires Amazon to assess ergonomic risk across its facilities, including through annual updates, and investigate and implement controls to reduce ergonomic risk.”

According to Amazon, the company has emphasized its progress in reducing injuries over the past five years, with a 28% reduction in recordable incident rates, a 75% drop in lost-time injuries since 2019 and a 27% improvement for ergonomic injuries — also known as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) — since 2019.

“Today’s agreement acknowledges our progress and notes that we should keep implementing and following our existing comprehensive ergonomics policies and procedures,” an Amazon representative said in a Dec. 19 news release. “There isn’t a claim of wrong-doing on Amazon’s part for the withdrawn citations, nor a directive to adopt new safety controls.”

The agreement has a two-year term, allowing either party to seek termination after the first year. It also permits OSHA to conduct monitoring inspections to ensure compliance.

The settlement does not impact the ongoing federal investigation about whether Amazon is hiding its true injury rates and worker safety hazards at warehouses around the country. The findings of a senate committee investigation on that matter were released on Dec. 15.