Amazon.com Inc.

03/12/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/12/2026 10:22

Amazon delivers another strong year of safety progress, making our workplaces even safer for our employees

Key takeaways

  • Global Recordable Incident Rate (RIR) has improved 43% and Global Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR) has improved 70% over the past six years.
  • We've invested over $2.5 billion to advance safety progress since 2019, including innovations, ergonomic improvements, and training programs.
  • More than 200,000 employees used Dragonfly, our proprietary feedback tool, to submit safety suggestions.
As Amazon's vice president of Global Workplace Health and Safety, I'm responsible for leading more than 11,000 safety professionals who are dedicated to keeping over 1 million employees and partners safe worldwide. It's the most important thing we do, and it drives how we innovate, invest, and operate every day.

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For the past several years, we've proactively shared data about safety in our sites because behind every metric is a person. We work every day to keep improving for the people across our network, and I'm pleased to share our full-year 2025 global operations safety data, which demonstrates consistent year-over-year improvement.
Here are some key updates, starting with two global figures:
  • Our Global Recordable Incident Rate (RIR)-which includes any work-related injury that requires more than basic first-aid treatment-has improved 43% over the past six years and 14% year-over-year (YoY).
  • Our Global Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR)-which includes any work-related injury that requires someone to take time away from work (the most serious injuries)-has improved 70% over the past six years and 14% YoY.
In the U.S., we report our operations data to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the industry codes that reflect the kind of work we do across our network. The majority of our data is reported under the General Warehousing and Storage, and Courier and Express Delivery Services codes. In 2025, we continued making strong progress across all categories.
  • In the U.S. General Warehousing and Storage industry:
    • Our RIR improved39% over the past six yearsand 16% YoY.
    • Our LTIR improved79% over the past six yearsand was flat YoY.
  • In the U.S. Courier and Express Delivery Services industry:
    • Our RIR improved59% over the past six yearsand 19% YoY.
    • Our LTIR improved81% over the past six yearsand 28% YoY.
Our performance

Evaluating our safety performance against industry averages

Comparing safety performance across companies isn't straightforward given reporting methodologies vary and very few companies proactively publish detailed data. However, the following graphs illustrate our progress year-over-year against industry averages calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS calculates these averages using data from selected employers and usually releases them each November, so the most recent averages available are for 2024.
As the graphs illustrate, we're making meaningful, sustained improvement. But in safety, there's no such thing as "good enough." Our goal is to set the benchmark for safety excellence across every industry where we operate. That means building safer workplaces by design, fostering a safety-first culture, and holding ourselves to a higher standard year after year. In 2026 alone, we've committed hundreds of millions of dollars to advance safety innovation, strengthen training, and expand programs that help keep our employees and partners safe.

Prevention through design

One of the keys to continuously improving safety year after year is our Prevention through Design (PtD) approach, which applies engineering controls to reduce or eliminate potential risks before they enter the workplace. Before we purchase equipment or build facilities, our design engineers partner with certified ergonomists, industrial hygienists, and safety engineers to make designs safer from the start. They use simulations and models to inform workflows and equipment usage and placement to ensure employees can work safely. We apply the same approach to existing sites by upgrading equipment, reconfiguring layouts, and improving processes to continuously improve our employees' experience.
However, prevention doesn't stop at design. It requires continuous validation. In 2025, we conducted 10.4 million safety inspections globally, a 33% increase from the previous year, to confirm our controls are working as intended and to identify where adjustments are needed. We combine these inspections with employee feedback to ensure our designs make work easier, align with how work is actually performed, and keep people safe. This creates a continuous loop between what we engineer and how it performs in practice.
One area where this engineering discipline is especially important is preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), the most common workplace injury across all industries. MSDs-strains or sprains caused by repetitive motion, awkward postures, or heavy lifting-account for more than half of all recordable injuries at Amazon. While our MSD rate has improved 43% over the past six years, they remain our primary focus.
Addressing MSDs means reducing repetitive motion and heavy physical strain. That's why we've integrated assistive robotics into our operations. Technologies like Robin and Cardinalhelp sort, lift, and place packages, and Proteussafely moves heavy carts alongside employees, reducing the need to push or pull bulky loads.

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Since 2019, we've invested more than $2.5 billion in our safety efforts, including new innovations, ergonomic improvements, and training programs, all grounded in the principle that the safest workplace is one where risks are engineered out from the start.

Our safety culture and investing in our people

Prevention through Design reduces risk before it reaches our employees, but sustaining these improvements requires a culture where safety is everyone's responsibility. Globally, Amazon's operations network has more than doubled in size since 2019 to over 1 million employees across more than 2,000 sites around the world. Alongside that growth, we've worked diligently to further build and evolve our safety culture.
An anchor of our safety culture is our Safe to Go philosophy, which guides how our employees operate each day. Safe to Go encourages everyone across our operations to be proactive, and it empowers employees and leaders alike to speak up, slow down, or stop work if something doesn't feel right. That shared expectation builds trust and accountability, but it only works when people see that their input leads to improvement. That's why we've built simple, accessible ways for employees to provide suggestions quickly and easily.

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While employees have several ways to provide feedback, one tool I'm especially proud of is Dragonfly, a system we built in-house and scaled across our operations network. Available on employees' devices and at on-site workstations, Dragonfly makes it easy to submit safety suggestions in real time. Submissions are routed directly to an employee's manager and escalated to site leadership as needed, ensuring the right people can act quickly. We continue to evolve the tool to strengthen both employee experience and leadership accountability, including a new feature that allows employees to rate their manager's response, creating clearer transparency for follow-through.
In 2025, more than 200,000 employees used Dragonfly to share ideas. Some improvements are straightforward, such as adding more lighting along walkways so team members can see and be seen more clearly. Others are more technical, including working with equipment vendors to add sensors, flashing lights, and vibration alerts that provide additional warnings when forklifts are nearby. Across a network of our size, even small ideas can scale into big improvements, making our sites safer every day.

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Beyond safety, we invest heavily in pay, benefits, and long-term opportunity. Our regular full-time operations employees earn an average base wage of more than $23 per hour, with total average compensation of more than $30 per hourwhen you include the value of benefits such as health care starting Day 1, prepaid college education, and on-the-job training. We also help employees prepare for the jobs of the future through programs like the Amazon Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeshipand the AWS Work Based Learning Program. Our broader upskilling efforts, including Career Choice, have already supported more than 700,000 employees worldwide by covering education and training costs and creating clear pathways to career advancement at Amazon and beyond. Through Future Ready 2030, we've committed an additional $2.5 billion to help 50 million people globally-including employees and our neighbors-build skills for in-demand technical roles.

Working safely with our operations partners

Our commitment to safety extends to our partners. We work with independent, long-haul trucking companies to move products across our network, and we work with small business owners called Delivery Service Partners(DSPs) and independent contractors in the Amazon Flex delivery programto deliver packages to customers' doorsteps. We're committed to helping partners and drivers stay safe by providing access to industry-leading safety technologies and resources.
For long-haul transportation, we recognize that limited visibility is one of the most common safety challenges across the industry, particularly in conditions like fog, heavy rain, or darkness. Because our Amazon-branded trailers are on highways every day, we've invested in making them more visible. We've added highly reflective tape to Amazon-branded trailers, and this year we're expanding that effort with enhanced lighting and bright white rear doors on all new trailers. Greater visibility helps other drivers recognize our trailers sooner, giving them more time to react and maintain safe following distances in low-visibility conditions.

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We've also made safety enhancements to Relay, the tool carriers use to book and execute work on Amazon's behalf. We continue to strengthen carrier and driver identity verification and authentication to ensure consistent safety standards nationwide that exceed Department of Transportation requirements. Once drivers are on the road, the Relay mobile app supports them with route-specific weather forecasts, and in-app alerts to changing conditions, throughout their trips. Our active weather response system proactively identifies and cancels loads affected by severe weather such as blizzards, ice storms, and high-wind warnings. Drivers also receive pre-trip briefings that include route options designed for commercial vehicles along with current road and weather conditions. Additionally, they have access to one-tap parking search to find safe rest stops, and can monitor real-time traffic visibility-all designed to help them make informed decisions and stay safe from start to finish.
For last mile delivery, we've invested $16.7 billion to support the DSP program since it launched in 2018, including investments in safety and pay initiatives. A central part of that investment is preparing drivers before they go on the road, which is why we've expanded hands-on training through our Integrated Last Mile Driver Academy. To date, more than 180,000 drivers have completed in-person training focused on delivery fundamentals and safety protocols, using tools like virtual reality driving headsets and a slip-trip-fall simulator, where drivers-secured in a safety harness-practice walking on slippery surfaces to learn techniques that help them stay safe walking on icy sidewalks, wet driveways, and snow-covered steps during deliveries.
Once on the road, DSP drivers are supported by in-vehicle safety technology. Amazon-branded delivery vans are equipped with camera-based systems that provide real-time feedback on driving behaviors. When unsafe behaviors are detected, drivers receive tips during delivery stops. If those behaviors persist, DSPs are notified so they can provide drivers with additional reminders and support. In addition, for DSPs and our Flex Delivery Partners, we provide alerts for roadway hazards and pets at delivery locations, along with a chat tool that lets delivery drivers notify customers when they're approaching.
Ultimately, operating at our scale demands exceptional road safety, which is why we're continuously developing new ways to help keep our partners, and the communities where they operate, safe.

Weather preparedness

Severe weather is one of the most unpredictable challenges that can impact both our employees and partners. While we can't control when a winter stormhits or temperatures spike, we can control how we prepare. That's why we have a team of meteorologists monitoring weather conditions 24/7 from our Global Security Operations Center (GSOC), providing real-time forecasts and risk assessments that guide operational decisions. Depending on conditions, that may mean delaying shifts, rerouting drivers, or pausing operations until it's safe. We share updates through text and in-app alerts so people have the latest information, and most importantly, we empower everyone to pause work or skip a delivery if something doesn't feel safe.
We also ensure our facilities, vehicles, and people are ready for severe weather. Our sites are climate-controlled and equipped with industrial fans, air-conditioned break rooms, hydration stations, and cooling gear to support teams during extreme heat. In colder conditions, we provide heated break areas, cold-weather gear, and hand warmers to help employees stay safe and comfortable. Beyond equipment, we invest in practical training that prepares employees for both severe weather events and everyday climate risks, from recognizing the signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration, to following cold-weather safety protocols, to applying safe driving techniques in rain, snow, and icy conditions.

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Branded delivery vans come equipped with both air conditioning and heat. If either system isn't working, the vehicle is immediately taken out of service. During heat waves, we also modify schedules to limit outdoor exposure during the hottest parts of the day, and during winter storms, we provide additional time for pre-trip vehicle inspections and route planning.

Safety industry recognition

Our comprehensive approach to safety-spanning technology, training, emergency preparedness, environmental protections, and road safety-has earned recognition from leading organizations around the world. Last year, we received eight safety awards from the American Red Cross, the British Safety Council, the National Safety Council, and the Applied Ergonomics Society. We also received the highest three-star rating in the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Road Safety Indexfor our structured approach to managing and reducing road-related risk across our transportation network. Together, these recognitions reflect the strength of initiatives such as the rollout of naloxone(an overdose-reversal medication) across our North America sites, CPR and First Aid training that exceeds regulatory standards, ergonomic innovations like adjustable-height tables that bring items to employees at comfortable working heights, and our continued investment in developing world-class safety leaders.
2025 marked another year of meaningful progress. I'd like to extend a sincere THANK YOU to our employees and partners for their dedication to safety and the forthright feedback that helps us see where we can do better. Every year, we continue to learn more, improve more, and innovate more in service of keeping people safe. Together, we're making Amazon safer every day.
Amazon.com Inc. published this content on March 12, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 12, 2026 at 16:23 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]