Raphael Stevens

In this articleAMZNAmazon warehouse working conditions and worker injuries have been a constant source of tension between the corporate giant and its critics. A new safety and wellness program is rolling out to all U.S. sites by year-end as Jeff Bezos’s company continues to add a massive amount of new employees.CHRIS J RATCLIFFE | AFP | Getty ImagesAmazon is well known for its relentless nature. Can that corporate approach which has resulted in so much bottom-line success be applied successfully to workplace injury prevention? Amazon workers, and the world, are about to find out in what could be the largest experiment in workplace safety culture ever undertaken.Amazon announced Monday that WorkingWell, a program that provides employees with physical, mental and nutritional support, among other wellness services, will be rolled out across the entire U.S. operations network by year-end, with the aim of cutting recordable incident rates — an OSHA measurement of worker injury and illness — by 50% by 2025. The company, which has faced criticism over worker conditions as its size and customer demand have grown, is investing $300 million in safety projects this year, though it did not break out spending on this program specifically as part of that budget.WorkingWell is not entirely new to Amazon employees, nor is the plan to cut injury rates. It was first piloted in 2019 and has already reached a huge number of workers, 859,000 employees at 350 sites in North America and Europe. In Amazon’s most recent earnings report released in late April, the company indicated it was going to expand the program, though it did not offer full details. A company executive says it has never offered all of the program components at all sites, and it hopes to reach 1,000 sites by the end of 2021, and after that, extend to Europe (where pilot sites do exist), and beyond.The CNBC @Work Summit returnsThis fall, October 13, Facebook CIO Atish Banerjea, Bank of America Chief Operations and Technology Officer Cathy Bessant, WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani and Estee Lauder CFO Tracey Travis will talk building a resilient future and more. Register now.”We want them to be healthy and safe and feel cared about and proud to work for Amazon,” said Heather MacDougall, vice president of worldwide workplace health and safety at Amazon. Employee health and wellness “is not just a talking point,” she said.Amazon is adding new workers at a furious pace. Its latest hiring spree includes 75,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada. The retail, logistics and technology giant added a massive number of workers during Covid, more than 500,000 in 2020, and a common type of injury called musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) — which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote on extensively in a recent annual letter to shareholders — is associated with new employees. About 40% of work-related injuries at Amazon are MSDs, which include sprains or strains caused by repetitive motions. Bezos noted in the letter that the program helped decrease MSD-related injuries by 32% from 2019 to 2020. Highlighting the issue of workers and workplace culture, Bezos wrote, “If you read some of the news reports, you might think we have no care for employees.” MSD risk exposure can and should be measured and reduced, according to John Dony, senior director at the National Safety Council. “Just as coaches now limit pitchers in baseball from throwing too many pitches and address their risk for injury through mechanics, so too can employers help prevent workplace MSDs by systemically measuring the exposures to the MSD risk factors and redesigning the workplace and work tasks to limit exposures to these risk factors,” Dony said.The body, mind and wellness of an Amazon workerAmong the program elements being added to all U.S. sites are daily meetings for operations leaders and small groups of employees near work stations so they can watch short interactive videos on topics like gripping and handling, pushing and pulling, and nutrition. Amazon calls them “Health & Safety Huddles.”Experts say there isn’t a great deal of data on video training, but when there are qualified professionals on site teaching employees positioning that prevents injury, and spot checking on the floor, it has been proven to work, and it has become more popular for warehouse operations to employ trainers in recent years. Among Amazon’s more than 6,000 safety employees are certified athletic trainers called injury prevention specialists who typically work in separate wellness centers, but also work in buildings providing one-on-one coaching with employees, and workstation ergonomic adjustments, a spokeswoman said via email.Hourly prompts at workstations will ask employees to complete physical and mental activities — which may last no longer than 30-60 seconds — but the company says can reduce muscle and mental fatigue, and reduce injury risk. Experts say stretching is a key to injury prevention, though most common workplace programs that are successful dedicate sessions of at least five minutes, multiple times a shift.Amazon will have dedicated wellness spaces within buildings devoted to activities like voluntary stretching, and incorporating interactive videos. Other aspects of the WorkingWell program include videos covering mindfulness practices, such as meditation, which will be available at interactive kiosks, and promoting healthier eating options and making them available to employees.”We made hundreds of changes as a result of employee feedback,” MacDougall said of the new program, which will include a WorkingWell mobile app currently being designed to provide at-home access to education and training on wellness. Some Amazon ideas not new, but the scale is novelWorkplace safety experts say that many of the elements in the new Amazon program are common features of workplace culture where safety is a priority. In many, respects, it is the sheer size of the effort that stands out and may offer the scientific and professional communities a source of data on workplace injury prevention on a new scale.”I am not aware of any company with this many workers doing this kind of work all at once,” said Deborah Roy, American Society of Safety Professionals president. “Just because of sheer numbers, if they do a good job collecting data and doing comparisons in a more controlled way, there is a good possibility we can learn from their implementation. … But we need to see the published data.”Amazon said it is working with universities on workplace safety research, including understanding the mechanics behind MSD injuries, and it is working with safety and industrial health experts, but an Amazon spokeswoman declined to elaborate on any formal plans to share research, though she said it is something the company is thinking about for the future.I am not aware of any company with this many workers doing this kind of work all at once. Deborah Roy, American Society of Safety Professionals presidentNew employees not conditioned to do the work may be the most prone to MSDs, but as the largest hirer in the U.S., Amazon also faces the issue of an aging workforce which needs to be kept healthy in a tight, and shrinking, labor market. “You want to take the time and spend the money upfront on new workers, getting them to do the job the right way and helping them to better position themselves,” Roy said, but she added of existing, older employees, “If you don’t support that workforce, you won’t have new young people to take their place, we just don’t have volume in many parts of country.”Some of the technology-driven ideas to prevent injuries that Bezos outlined in the letter, such as algorithms that can rotate employees through jobs, continued to be used in a pilot phase, but are not part of this program.Claims that Amazon has high rates of workplace injury have persisted over the years, especially during periods of peak demand, such as the upcoming Prime Day. Amazon also has fought in the court system to keep some injury records confidential. The company also recently faced — though in the end prevailed over — a vote to unionize at an Alabama operations site, where union reps say injuries were a factor in support for their effort.Reducing work injuries by 50% is possibleAn Amazon operations leader made available to CNBC, Jeffrey Ku, who has piloted several aspects of the program at “DEN2,” one of its Denver facilities, said he hasn’t had an injury on his team in the six months he has been in charge of the training.”50% is doable,” Roy said. “There have been lots of organizations that have been able to do it. It is a focus issue and has to be a value in that company.”While it may seem like a high bar, OSHA’s own published research says companies with the correct safety management system in place should be able to see a 52% reduction in the injury rate. Roy has seen the change firsthand, overseeing a warehouse program that took the operation from a rate of 12 out of 100 workers being injured doing manual labor to zero injuries over a two-year time frame. “It is to their advantage to address these issues,” she said. “Supporting these individuals helps the bottom line of the company and productivity.”Ku, who has been providing “a lot of training to new hires,” has found that the short videos and even the briefest of breaks to reset do help. “I am very adamant about safety, safety, safety,” he said.  More

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Monday he expects more Americans to stop wearing face coverings to protect against the coronavirus in the coming weeks.”By June, nobody is going to be wearing masks. By June, I think, the prevalence [of Covid] is going to be sufficiently low in this country [and[ we’re just not going to be concerned about it,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”Gottlieb’s comments came during a back-and-forth about how the updated mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention impacts young children who are not yet eligible to receive the Covid vaccine. Kids aged 12 to 15 became eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week.While he’s fully vaccinated, Gottlieb said he wore a mask this weekend while shopping with his young children. He said he no longer feels at risk of getting Covid, but has no problem wearing a mask for the time being when he’s with them.”What’s the downside of keeping it on?” Gottlieb said. “I would probably keep a mask on my kids a little bit longer. Another week or two,” added Gottlieb, who now serves on Pfizer’s board.On Thursday, the CDC said in most indoor and outdoor settings, fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face covering or maintain six feet of social distance from others. Masks are still needed on airplanes and public transportation, according to a federal rule.States and localities also are still able to set their own policies around face coverings. New Jersey, for example, intends to keep its indoor mask requirement in place. By contrast, states such as North Carolina and Ohio relaxed its mask rules for fully vaccinated people following the CDC guidance.Major retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Target and Starbucks have also dropped face-covering requirements for fully vaccinated customers, except in places where local rules still necessitate them.The CDC has defended its new recommendations despite causing some confusion and concern. Critics worry that it will embolden unvaccinated people to go without a mask.”People who are going to go maskless now were going to go maskless anyway post when these mandates lifted and still choose not to get vaccinated,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019.Gottlieb repeated his belief that the CDC’s updated guidance will incentivize at least some vaccine-hesitant Americans to get Covid shots. “I don’t think it’s going to be 10%, but I think we might pick up another 2% to 5% of people,” he predicted.As of Sunday, 47% of the U.S. population has received at least one Covid vaccine dose while 37% is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.New coronavirus infections in the U.S. remain in decline, which is why Gottlieb believes the CDC mask guidance is appropriate.The seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases is around 33,200, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That’s down 19% from a week ago, continuing a sharp drop that’s taken place since mid-April, at which point the daily average of new cases was more than 71,000.”I think prevalence is really collapsing around the country, and we’re going to be at a point where there’s very little infection and the individual risk to a person is low if you’re dealing with an otherwise immunocompetent person,” Gottlieb said.At the same time, Gottlieb said people who choose to wear a mask, even when it’s not required, should not be derided. For example, someone who is vaccinated but has a pre-existing condition may still don a mask in certain higher-risk indoor settings, he said.”I think it should be encouraged. I think it should be supported. People are going to have to make individual choices about their risk,” Gottlieb said.Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

In this articleGENIGenius Sports.Genius SportsSports tech company Genius Sports is partnering with the National Basketball Association’s league in Africa, which will see the firm provide official real-time stats and incorporate new technology.The agreement, announced Monday, could be the first step in introducing a wave of new sports data and gaming features for media and betting companies.U.K.-based Genius works with media companies for broadcast enhancements and provides data to sports betting firms to set wager lines. The partnership with Basketball Africa League doesn’t extend to sports betting, but Genius wants to use the agreement to roll out new artificial intelligence-driven technology, including augmented reality features.Financial terms of the deal were not provided.”Through this partnership, Genius Sports will provide the BAL with its FIBA LiveStats data collection tool, which will be used to capture advanced play-by-play statistics from courtside at every BAL game including shot, foul and turnover locations to highlight the league’s top performers and provide crucial updates for fans to follow the live-action,” the company said.Details and information are projected on a screen during the announcement of the The NBA-backed Basketball Africa League (BAL) at the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar, on July 30 2019.SEYLLOU | AFP | Getty ImagesLast month, Genius Sports closed a $1.5 billion deal with a special purpose acquisition company to go public. It’s now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GENI. The company has a $3.2 billion market capitalization, and its chairman is former Turner Sports executive David Levy.Why this partnership mattersGenius is a major player in sports. This deal will allow the company to innovate with BAL and create second- and third-screen engagement for  viewers. Genius has clients including top sports betting companies Penn National, DraftKings and Fan Duel, and networks including Disney’s ESPN and ViacomCBS.Genius paid $200 million to acquire Second Spectrum, which is backed by Steve Ballmer. Second Spectrum already works with the NBA and uses artificial intelligence and player tracking via high-definition cameras in areas to collect data. The company is also behind the tech used for ESPN’s NBA Marvel telecast.Ballmer, the Los Angeles Clippers owner, and former Microsoft CEO, will stay on as a shareholder post-acquisition. In 2018, Ballmer helped create “Clippers CourtVison,” a second-screen experience that gives regional sports network subscribers the ability to watch and consume games in multiple ways using real-time stats and AR features to enable viewers to feel more in control.Steve Ballmer, former chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., gestures as he speaks during a news conference after he was introduced as the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles, California.Kevork Djansezian | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWith Genius securing exclusive National Football League data rights in April, it could attempt to roll out Second Spectrum across pro football, capturing a wide range of new data and camera angles with the tech. Also, media networks like ESPN are shifting to more second-screen opportunities with streaming, positioning for betting and gamification viewing experiences.With Genius owning the in-depth data and tech, it is positioning itself to capitalize. The firm built the NBA’s next generation stats system and envisions rolling out new viewing experience features with BAL.The league began its inaugural season this past weekend, delayed a year due to Covid-19. The NBA co-partnered with International Basketball Federation to create BAL in 2019. The league will consist of two conferences, and 12 teams. The top six clubs will compete in a single-game elimination tournament following the season to determine the champion. Amadou Gallo Fall is president of the league. “The BAL will showcase and develop the most exciting talent from across African basketball, and we’re very proud that our statistics technology will be at the heart of this new competition,” said Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke.Genius Sports will have its first earnings call on May 20. Shares of the company rose 6% on Friday, closing at $18.35 per share.   Disclosure: CNBC parent Comcast and NBC Sports are investors in FanDuel. More

Busy bars and restaurants in Old Compton Street, Soho, in London in April 2021.SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesLONDON – Britain has relaxed restrictions on its economy and social contact further on Monday, but the spread of the Covid variant that first emerged in India is threatening a full lifting of measures.Lockdown measures have been eased in England, Wales and most parts of Scotland on Monday, meaning that pubs, bars and restaurants are now allowed to serve customers inside; museums, cinemas and theaters can reopen; and exercise classes and indoor sports can resume.In addition, up to six people or two households can now socialize indoors and gatherings of up to 30 people are allowed outside, although the rules differ slightly between the constituent nations in the U.K. Northern Ireland is expected to relax its restrictions on indoor hospitality from May 24.International travel can also resume on Monday with people allowed to go on foreign holidays. Countries have been put on a “green,” “amber” or “red” list — with varying quarantining rules on return to the U.K. — determined by their infection rate.While the reopening is a sigh of relief for the hospitality, leisure and travel industry, the lifting of restrictions is being tempered by a rise in Covid cases that has been attributed to a variant of the coronavirus that first emerged in India.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a cautious approach to the reopening, warning that the spread of the new variant could threaten further easing on June 21, when it was hoped all restrictions on social contact would be lifted.Speaking Friday, Johnson said there was currently no evidence that the variant would evade Covid vaccines that are being deployed across the country, but that the new variant “could pose a serious disruption to our progress … And I must stress that we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.”He said the variant looked to be more transmissible than other strains, but cautioned that it wasn’t clear by how much. England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, speaking alongside Johnson, added that there was “confidence” the strain is “more transmissible” than other variants already circulating in the country.Rise in casesThe new variant is also believed to be more transmissible than a variant that first emerged in the U.K. last fall. This became the dominant strain in the country, along with in the U.S. and parts of Europe.On Sunday, the U.K. reported just over 1,900 new cases, bringing the total number of recorded infections in the U.K. to 4,450,777. As of Sunday, 15,918 cases had been reported in the previous seven days, up 8.6% from the May 3-9 period, according to government data.This rise in cases has prompted a change in vaccination strategy from the government, with the over-50s and clinically vulnerable set to receive their second doses eight weeks after the first dose, rather than at 12 weeks as per the previous immunization strategy.On Friday, it was announced that the U.K. would deliver surge vaccinations and testing in areas where the new Covid variant first detected in India is spreading.To date, almost 70% of the British adult population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while just over 38% have received two doses. This U.K. on Sunday hit the milestone of having given 20 million people their second dose of a Covid shot.The U.K.’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government will make a decision on June 14 whether to go ahead with the final lifting of restrictions a week later. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Hancock said variants were one “of the biggest risks to this opening.””Because of the speed of transmission of this one, it can really spread like wildfire amongst the unvaccinated groups — hence we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible, particularly among those who are most vulnerable to ending up in hospital.”- CNBC’s Matt Clinch contributed reporting to this story. More

The emergency services attend to a man who has suffered a stroke in Madrid, Spain.Europa Press News | Europa Press | Getty ImagesLong working hours are killing hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, according to the findings of a study by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization.In joint research by the global public health and employment bodies, the WHO and ILO estimated there were 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, marking a 29% increase since 2000.The study, published in the Environment International journal on Monday, was a first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours.WHO and the ILO estimated that 398,000 people died from stroke and 347,000 from heart disease in 2016 as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to working long hours increased by 42%, and from stroke by 19%.The study concluded that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35-40 hours a week. In 2016, 488 million people worldwide were exposed to long working hours of more than 55 hours a week, the WHO and ILO estimated.The “work-related disease burden” was found to be particularly significant in men (72% of deaths occurred among males), people living in the Western Pacific (in which the WHO includes China, South Korea, Australia and Japan among other countries) and Southeast Asia regions, and middle-aged or older workers, the WHO said on Monday.”Most of the deaths recorded were among people dying aged 60-79 years, who had worked for 55 hours or more per week between the ages of 45 and 74 years,” the organization added.”With working long hours now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease, it is established as the risk factor with the largest occupational disease burden.”The WHO-ILO study included analysis of 37 studies on ischemic heart disease and 22 studies on stroke as well as data from more than 2,300 surveys collected in 154 countries from 1970-2018. Worrying trendAlthough the study did not cover the period of the pandemic, the findings come at a time when the number of people working long hours is increasing, and currently stands at 9% of the total population globally, WHO said, adding: “This trend puts even more people at risk of work-related disability and early death.”The coronavirus pandemic has also placed more emphasis on working hours with the WHO warning that the pandemic is accelerating developments that could feed the trend toward increased working time.WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the pandemic “has significantly changed the way many people work.””Teleworking has become the norm in many industries, often blurring the boundaries between home and work. In addition, many businesses have been forced to scale back or shut down operations to save money, and people who are still on the payroll end up working longer hours. No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers need to work together to agree on limits to protect the health of workers,” he said.WHO recommended that governments “introduce, implement and enforce laws, regulations and policies that ban mandatory overtime and ensure maximum limits on working time” and suggested that employees could share working hours to ensure that numbers of hours worked do not climb above 55 or more per week.    More

In this articleRY4C-IEBeach in Lagos, Portugal.CARLOS COSTA | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — British tourists are now able to fly abroad as Covid restrictions are eased, but only to a limited number of destinations — something that the tourism industry wants to change.People in England and Scotland can fly to a list of 12 countries on the so-called green list from Monday without having to quarantine upon their return. This represents a massive change as vacations abroad have been illegal for months. The advice for people in Wales is only to travel for essential reasons, though taking trips is also no longer prohibited by law.The changes in policy were welcomed by the tourism industry, which is keen to open for business after a challenging time during the pandemic. Nonetheless, the sector is hoping that the government will lift compulsory quarantines for more destinations.”It is a cautious return to international travel. We would have liked to have seen more countries added to the green list,” Stewart Wingate, the CEO of Gatwick Airport told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick on Monday.The green list represents the group of nations that tourists can visit without compulsory quarantine upon their return. For now, the list includes countries such as Portugal, Israel, Singapore, Iceland and Gibraltar, and it will be reviewed every three weeks.We look forward to Spain, Italy and Greece being added to the U.K. green list in the next couple of weeks .Michael O’LearyRyanair CEOTourists arriving from one of these destinations will have to provide a passenger locator form, take a Covid test prior to boarding their return flight, and also book and pay for another Covid test for the second day after their arrival.However, visits to nations on the so-called amber list require self-isolation for a period of 10 days, and trips to countries on the red list require a 10-day quarantine in a hotel.Sunny European destinations, often chosen as holiday spots by British tourists, such as France, Spain, Italy and Greece are currently on the amber list.”From an industry perspective what we would like to see is for our government to continuingly review the status of the countries, in particular places like the Spanish islands, the Greek islands and then, in due course over the coming weeks, some of the big destinations that we serve from Gatwick, such as Spain, Italy and Greece and the USA progressively placed on the green list when it is safe to do so,” Wingate said on Monday.The CEO of budget airline Ryanair echoed this sentiment.”We look forward to Spain, Italy and Greece being added to the U.K. green list in the next couple of weeks and I think that will accelerate the recovery of booking short-haul holidays from the U.K. to Europe certainly through to July, August and September,” Michael O’Leary, the CEO of Ryanair, told CNBC on Monday.The heads of British Airways and Heathrow Airport also urged the U.K. government to allow tourists to visit more European destinations and the U.S. without having to quarantine on their return, Reuters reported.”It’s quite important for many of these airline companies that the green list is expanded,” Ruhell Amin, equity research analyst at William O’Neil and Co, told CNBC’s Street Signs Monday, adding that he expects to see more countries added in the coming weeks.Stocks in Europe’s travel and leisure sector fell more than 1% during early trading hours on Monday.Despite the ongoing easing of travel restrictions in the U.K, there’s still plenty of uncertainty facing the battered industry as quarantine rules are reviewed and the future of the pandemic remains unclear. Though vaccinations against the coronavirus have picked up pace in the U.K. and European Union, there are concerns about new variants —especially the one first identified in India — and their potential impact.On Sunday, the U.K.’s Health Minister Matt Hancock told the BBC there is “increasing confidence” that Covid vaccines work against the variant identified in India. However, he added that the government cannot yet confirm whether all social restrictions will be lifted on June 21 as initially planned. More

Singapore Airlines crew members and travelers at the transit hall of Changi Airport in Singapore on Jan. 14, 2021.Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty ImagesSINGAPORE — Singapore and Hong Kong have once again pushed back the start date of a long-anticipated air travel bubble arrangement, the two cities announced Monday.The travel bubble, which would have allowed travelers to skip quarantine, had been planned to begin on May 26. The scheme has faced multiple rounds of delays from its initial launch date in November 2020.Singapore’s transport ministry said in a statement that “in light of the recent increase in unlinked community cases, Singapore is unable to meet the criteria to start” the travel bubble.Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government said in a statement that further updates will be announced on or before June 13.Covid-19 cases in Singapore have climbed in the past few days. In a preliminary update on Monday, Singapore’s health ministry said it confirmed an additional 21 locally transmitted infections, of which 11 were not linked to previous cases.That takes Singapore’s cumulative Covid cases to more than 61,600 and 31 deaths, data by the health ministry showed.The rise in locally transmitted cases has led the Singapore government to tighten measures in recent weeks to stem the spread of Covid. Stricter measures that took effect over the weekend include banning all dine-in at food and beverage establishments, as well as limiting public social gatherings to two people. Most schools will be closed and moved online from Wednesday.Both Singapore and Hong Kong are major Asian business hubs with no domestic air travel markets. Their tourism and aviation industries rely heavily on international travel, and have been badly hit by the pandemic.Hong Kong said Monday it detected one additional imported Covid case, taking its total confirmed and probable infections to 11,826, official data showed. The city has reported 210 deaths so far. More