An Amazon warehouse
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Amazon warehouse workers in the U.S. suffered serious injuries at twice the rate of rival firms, in accordance with a new study.
In 2021, there have been 6.8 serious injuries for each 100 Amazon warehouse workers. That’s greater than twice the rate of all different employers in the warehouse business, which had 3.3 serious injuries per 100 workers, the Strategic Organizing Center mentioned in a report launched Tuesday.
The SOC, which is a coalition of labor unions together with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, analyzed information Amazon submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about its warehouses in 2021.
Even as Amazon final 12 months set its sights on enhancing office security, together with a pledge to become “Earth’s Safest Place to Work” injuries at its U.S. warehouses elevated between 2020 and 2021.
In whole, Amazon reported roughly 38,300 whole injuries at its U.S. services in 2021, up about 20% from 27,100 injuries in 2020. The overwhelming majority of injuries in 2021 had been categorized as serious, or injuries “the place workers had been damage so badly that they had been both unable to carry out their common job features (gentle responsibility) or compelled to overlook work solely (misplaced time),” in accordance with the report.
Amazon was accountable for a “staggering” quantity of employee injuries in the U.S., the report discovered. In 2021, Amazon accounted for nearly half of all injuries in the business, whereas making up a 3rd of all U.S. warehouse workers.
Representatives from Amazon did not instantly reply to a request for touch upon the findings.
Earlier this 12 months, Amazon disclosed it spent $300 million on employee security enhancements in 2021. It mentioned the rate of staff who missed work as a result of a office harm dropped by 43% in 2020 from the prior 12 months.
Still, Amazon has confronted strain from lawmakers and its personal staff to deal with the breakneck tempo of work inside its warehouses. Last fall, California’s State Senate passed a landmark invoice aimed at curbing Amazon’s use of productiveness quotas in its services.
Warehouse and supply workers have routinely spoken out towards the firm, arguing its “buyer obsession” and give attention to speedy supply have created an unsafe working atmosphere. They’ve claimed the breakneck tempo would not enable for satisfactory breaks and loo time.
Those issues have come into better focus as unionization efforts have ramped up at Amazon warehouses. This month, Amazon workers on New York’s Staten Island voted to form the first union at an Amazon warehouse. The union has known as for Amazon to place in place “extra affordable” productiveness charges in the warehouse, amongst different calls for.
Last 12 months, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos laid out a imaginative and prescient for enhancing the firm’s office security, acknowledging it wanted “a greater imaginative and prescient for our staff’ success.” Amazon also launched a collection of wellness packages, with the purpose of reducing recordable incident charges by 50% by 2025.
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