Regulators And DOJ Slam Amazon's Worker Safety Hazards

For years, Amazon warehouse workers have complained about dangerous working conditions and the dangers of harm they confront while hurrying to fill packages and deliver them to consumers in two days or less.

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While Amazon says that their accident rate is decreasing, facility-level statistics from the U.S. According to the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Amazon workers were injured at a rate of 6.9 for every 100 in 2022. Amazon was penalized by OSHA investigators in January for "failing to keep workers safe."

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The industrywide data for last year will not be disclosed until November, but OSHA chief Doug Parker said Amazon has a history of accident rates that are significantly higher than competitors in the warehouse category. In 2021, Amazon's injury rate was about 1.5 times the industry average. Parker said that at some Amazon warehouse facilities, the percentage was as high as 12 workers out of 100.

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"That's more than 10% of the workers every year who are having injuries on the job that are significant enough that they have to take time away from their employment," Parker said of the warehouses. "We know it's harming thousands of workers, and it's concerning."

Bobby Gosvener is one former employee who is suffering from agony.

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Gosvener worked at an Amazon warehouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma, until 2020. He said that a conveyor belt malfunctioned in December, leaving him with a herniated disk that necessitated neck surgery. He is currently on permanent partial disability.

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"I'm going to have to live with this injury for the rest of my life," Gosvener stated. "I still dread ordering via Amazon because it's so easy, but every time I look at a box, I think of the process of what went through it and who was injured in the midst of it."

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Jennifer Crane, who injured her wrist in October, works despite her agony at an Amazon warehouse in St. Peters, Missouri. She stated she tore a ligament from "repeatedly loading a case of sparkling water, along with dog food and Gatorade all day," and she now wears a brace to assist her to get through the day.

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"I'm taking pain medication after about two hours of strenuous work," Crane explained.

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She requires the position. Crane lost her spouse to a heart attack in 2019 and became a single mother to her seven boys.

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"I've got to be able to support them." "I have expenses to pay," she explained. Crane admitted that she might search for other jobs, but said "Right now I'm in the struggle to try to make it better there for everybody."

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Crane is circulating a petition at her facility, requesting a slower pace of work, longer breaks, ergonomic adjustments, and equipment modifications.

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In response to those reports of injury and agony, Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel stated in a statement, "Amazon worked carefully to accommodate both workers and ensure they had everything they needed not just to work safely but also to recuperate." Any assertion to the contrary is untrue."

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In 2021 and 2022, Amazon's self-reported injury rate decreased by 9%. Apart from warehouses, the e-commerce behemoth claims that its injury rate across all global operations, or 1.5 million employees, has decreased by roughly 24% between 2019 and 2022.

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"I don't deny that their injury rates have decreased over time, but they're still not good enough," OSHA's Parker said.

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The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a labor union alliance, analyzed OSHA's new statistics and discovered that Amazon's accident rate will be more than double that of all non-Amazon facilities in 2022.

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According to the analysis, Amazon will employ 36% of all warehouse employees in the United States in 2022 but will be responsible for more than 53% of all major injuries in the business.

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According to Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesman, the group's results "create an erroneous image."

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"The safety and health of our employees are and will always be our first concern, and any allegation to the contrary is false," Nantel stated. "We're happy about our team's development, and we'll keep working hard together to grow better every day."

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"Amazon's clear approach toward this is to deny that they have a problem," said Eric Frumin, SOC's director of health and safety.

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Federal investigation

Federal regulators are now investigating the health and safety violations, which were discovered during inspections of seven Amazon facilities in five states last summer. All seven locations received citations from OSHA.

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"In every single location, we discovered major dangers that put workers in real danger of bodily harm," Parker said. "The scale is the most worrying. We have every reason to think that the methods that caused the dangers in these plants are being employed at Amazon facilities around the country."

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OSHA also acted on referrals from the United States. The Southern District of New York Attorney's Office found comparable dangers in its review of the facilities. The Washington State Department of Labor penalized two additional facilities for safety issues. Amazon was also penalized by OSHA for 14 record-keeping breaches, including failing to properly report worker injuries and illnesses.

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Amazon is contesting all of the citations. If they are upheld, the corporation will be required to pay the first federal penalty for worker musculoskeletal injuries. So far, they have amounted to approximately $152,000. The Washington State Department of Justice penalty is an extra $81,000.

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Amazon has a market capitalization of almost $1 trillion and a revenue of more than $500 billion last year.

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"There is no amount of money that the Labor Department can enforce as a penalty that will make a difference to a firm that spends billions of dollars every day," Frumin said. "What counts is whether they will respect the requirement for their employees to be safe." ”

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According to a January news release, the Department of Justice is also examining Amazon, questioning if the corporation "acted in a deceptive scheme meant to conceal the real number of injuries." The Department of Justice's civil division is investigating whether Amazon officials made "false statements" to lenders about its safety record in order to get loans.

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"We strongly disagree with the claims and are convinced that this process will eventually reveal they're unfounded," Amazon said in a statement to Trade Algo. The business also claimed it is increasing the staff responsible for record-keeping.

'If you're rushing, you'll make mistakes.'

The pressure to work quickly is Daniel Olayiwola's main issue as an Amazon employee since 2017.

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"You must ensure that these rates are reached or else you're going to receive a write-up." Then you won't have any possibilities to swap roles or advance, Olayiwola stated.

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During last year's annual shareholders' meeting, Olayiwola proposed that Amazon discontinue tracking workers' pace of work and "time off task," but the move failed.

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"That is a significant contribution to the number of injuries we see at Amazon worldwide," Olayiwola added. "I can confidently state that. If you haste, you will make blunders and someone will be injured."

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Olayiwola operates a forklift in a warehouse in San Antonio, Texas, to pick up large objects. He stated that the facility's slowest permissible rate is roughly 22 items each hour, "which means you'd have to choose one item every three minutes."

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"It is ridiculous whether the object is a mirror, a dresser, or a bed frame," Olayiwola pointed out. "But, you must continue to choose these products and dump them off at these specific drop zones."

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According to an email from an Amazon representative, the "pace of labor" is not included in any of OSHA's citations. Nonetheless, the speed of work was noted as a concern in the Southern District of New York's examinations at six warehouses. In addition, three states — New York, California, and Washington — have approved laws to limit the use of productivity quotas at Amazon facilities.

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Meanwhile, Olayiwola has sought assistance from United for Respect, a retail worker advocacy group, and he runs a podcast called "Surviving Scamazon." Like Crane, he wants to feed his family while fighting to bring about change from the inside. His wife is expecting their second kid, and he considers his job at Amazon to be a "necessary evil."

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According to OSHA, identical investigations are presently ongoing at ten additional Amazon locations, with larger probes waiting at dozens more.

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