SpatialCortex Named Finalist in NSC Safety Innovation Challenge 2025: Pioneering Real-Time Work-Related MSD Prevention Technology

We're thrilled to announce that SpatialCortex has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious National Safety Council (NSC) Safety Innovation Challenge 2025, specifically for our groundbreaking work in work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) prevention. This recognition positions us among the most innovative companies working to solve one of the workplace's most pervasive and costly safety challenges.

The Magnitude of the Work-Related MSD Crisis

Every year, in workplaces around the world, thousands of lives are negatively impacted by work activities that require forceful exertion, awkward postures, and repetitive motions during work performance. Collectively known as musculoskeletal disorders, these conditions are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [1].

The scope of this crisis is staggering. MSDs caused 29.6% of nonfatal work injuries in the U.S. in 2021-2022, making them the single largest category of workplace injuries [12]. Low back pain affected 619 million people in 2020, with projections showing this will hit 843 million by 2050 [12]. The workplace impact is equally alarming, with the private sector experiencing 976,090 musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) DART (Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred) cases, including 502,380 DAFW (Days Away From Work) cases in 2021-2022 [3].

The economic toll is devastating across all sectors. Workplace injuries cost U.S. businesses $1 billion per week, with $18 billion lost annually in wages and healthcare [12]. While computer workers suffer costs between $45 and $54 billion annually from musculoskeletal diseases [4], the broader impact across all industries is staggering. Manual handling and physical labor workers face particularly severe risks, with 41% of MSDs affecting the back, another 41% affecting the upper limbs or neck, and 17% affecting the lower limbs [7]. Over the course of a 40-year career, workers lifting heavy loads can expect almost three years of work absences due to lower back pain [12].

MSD-related opioid use is rising at an alarming rate and creating devastating impacts across industries, with 63% of prescription painkiller misusers being employed workers and 1.2 million construction workers using opioid analgesics annually, leading to a destructive cycle where pain management becomes dependency and workers miss nearly five weeks per year [9,10,11].

Back pain, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, sprains and strains are common examples of MSDs that result from workplace injury. MSDs impact almost every industry and occupation and almost every part of the body, affecting anyone at any age [12]. Additionally, musculoskeletal disorders account for nearly 70 million physician office visits in the United States annually and an estimated 130 million total health care encounters [2].

The National Safety Council's Leadership in Work-Related MSD Prevention

The National Safety Council is America's leading voice in workplace safety innovation, particularly in the fight against work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Through their MSD Solutions Lab, the NSC has committed to making work-related musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, a problem of the past.

The NSC, in partnership with Amazon and the 250+ organizations in the MSD Charter Pledge and Pledge 2.0 companies, seeks to inspire a global movement across all industries that improves workplace safety, reduces MSD risk and improves worker wellbeing [12]. This collaborative approach recognizes that investing in MSD prevention yields a strong return, turning proactive safety measures into measurable financial gains, roughly every dollar spent generates double that or more in return [12].

The NSC drives multiple initiatives to encourage workplaces to adopt emerging technologies that can rapidly address work-related MSDs. These include comprehensive grant programs, the MSD Solutions Lab fostering innovation and collaboration, research partnerships with leading institutions, and educational programs that help organizations implement cutting-edge prevention technologies for workplace MSD prevention [5].

The 2025 Safety Innovation Challenge: Targeting MSD Risk Mitigation Through Technology

This year's NSC MSD Prevention Safety Innovation Challenge represents a pivotal moment in workplace safety evolution. Through this challenge, the National Safety Council is actively seeking innovative solutions that reduce the frequency or severity of musculoskeletal disorders by mitigating MSD-related risks in the workplace, such as forceful exertion, awkward postures and repetitive motion [6].

The challenge scope encompasses cutting-edge technologies across multiple categories, including exoskeletons that augment physical activity, wearables providing real-time feedback on movements and posture, computer vision technology that assesses worker posture through video input and artificial intelligence, collaborative robots (cobots) for repetitive tasks, AI/ML platforms delivering alerts and insights, extended reality systems for ergonomic risk identification, and digital twins creating virtual workplace replicas for proactive risk analysis [6].

The NSC recognizes that traditional reactive approaches to work-related MSD management are insufficient. Instead, they're championing these diverse technological solutions to prevent and eliminate workplace-related MSDs across all industries and occupations, with prizes and grants awarded to honor innovation and help fund these solutions [6].

SpatialCortex: Revolutionizing Work-Related MSD Prevention with MOVA Technology

At SpatialCortex, we've developed revolutionary wearable sensors and AI-driven analytics that help assess, anticipate, reduce and prevent workplace MSD injuries from both manual-handling and desk-based work. Our solution directly addresses the NSC's challenge objectives of mitigating forceful exertion, awkward postures, and repetitive motion risks through two complementary systems: MOVA for physical/manual tasks and MOVA SEAT for desk-based work, fitting perfectly into the challenge's wearables category that provides real-time feedback on movements and posture to workers and safety supervisors.

Our MOVA Technology: Comprehensive MSD Risk Prevention

MOVA for Manual-Handling Tasks revolutionizes manual-handling MSD risk management by enabling accurate, full-body objective risk assessments per ergonomic standards. The system identifies awkward postures and harmful movement patterns while delivering real-time feedback for injury prevention, targeted training, and AI-driven mitigation strategies. MOVA is effective for both high-frequency low-force tasks and low-frequency high-exertion tasks across physically demanding industries.

Key Technology Features

Ergonomic risk assessments:

MOVA enables fast, full-body, objective assessments based various ergonomic standards, without manual observation or someone pointing a camera. It captures real shift-level exposure and real-world behaviour, replacing subjective, episodic assessments.

Immersive ergonomic training:

Using real-time haptic or audio feedback, workers receive in-the-moment posture correction. This drives muscle memory and behaviour change. ‘Good vs bad’ movement datasets support task-specific training, in classroom or live work settings.

Real-time monitoring and early interventions:

MOVA continuously tracks risk exposure levels, flagging fatigue risk, sustained awkward posture, and high-force exertions in real-time. Feedback is delivered directly to workers, promoting self-correction and injury prevention and for site supervision level

Comprehensive Coverage:

From utilities field operatives and construction staff to office staff and transport operators, our technology addresses MSD risks across diverse work environments and occupational settings.

Validated Performance:

Successfully tested across high-risk sectors including transportation, utilities, logistics, manufacturing, and office-based environments, demonstrating measurable MSD risk reduction.

Join Us at the NSC Safety Congress & Expo Finals

We're thrilled to be participating as finalists in the NSC Safety Innovation Challenge at this year's Safety Congress & Expo, where we'll showcase our groundbreaking MOVA technology in the Safety Technology Pavilion on the expo floor.

Being selected as a finalist demonstrates the potential of our MOVA wearable sensor technology and our innovative approach to MSD prevention aligns perfectly with the NSC's mission to inspire a global movement across all industries that improves workplace safety, reduces MSD risk, and improves worker wellbeing.

The opportunity to participate in the NSC Safety Innovation Challenge finals validates our commitment to enabling safer workplaces through data-led safety culture and real-time MSD prevention technology. This represents more than recognition, it's validation of our belief that the future of workplace safety lies in prevention, not reaction.

We will share more information about what we will have on show at the event nearer that time, so watch this space. For more information and to register for the event, visit 2025 NSC Safety Congress & Expo.

SpatialCortex is proud to be a finalist in the NSC Safety Innovation Challenge 2025. For more information about our MOVA wearable sensor technology for work-related MSD prevention, contact us to learn how we can help transform safety in your workplace.

References

[1] World Health Organization. (2024). Musculoskeletal conditions. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/musculoskeletal-conditions

[2] Bone and Joint Initiative USA. (2024). The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States. https://www.boneandjointburden.org/

[3] Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2022. U.S. Department of Labor.

[4] National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2024). Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders & Ergonomics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[5] National Safety Council. (2024). MSD Solutions Lab Research and Pilot Grant Program. https://www.nsc.org/workplace/safety-topics/musculoskeletal-disorders

[6] TechConnect. (2025). MSD Prevention Safety Innovation Challenge - National Safety Council. Retrieved from TechConnect MSD Prevention Safety Innovation Challenge

[7] Pro Manual Handling. (2023). Musculoskeletal Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.promanualhandling.co.uk/training/video/musculoskeletal-statistics

[8] Safety and Health Magazine. (2021). CPWR looks at prescription opioid use among construction workers with MSDs. https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/20711-cpwr-looks-at-prescription-opioid-use-among-construction-workers-with-msds

[9] Maryland Occupational Safety and Health. (2024). Opioids at Work: Raising Awareness and Understanding. https://labor.maryland.gov/labor/mosh/moshopioidsatwork.shtml

[10] American Journal of Public Health. (2022). Pain and Prescription Opioid Use Among US Construction Workers. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306510

[11] National Safety Council. (2024). Implications of Drug Use for Employers. https://www.nsc.org/workplace/safety-topics/drugs-at-work/implications-of-drug-use-for-employers

[12] National Safety Council. (2025). MSD Prevention Safety Innovation Challenge Overview. TechConnect.