back to article Amazon warehouse workers are seriously injured more frequently than those at similar companies – unions

Amazon warehouse workers sustain serious injuries more frequently than employees working in similar jobs across thousands of other companies, a report by unions concluded on Tuesday. The injury figures were collected from employers by OSHA – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is a watchdog within the US …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Joke

    It’s the whips

    They need to stop using the whips!

    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

      Re: It’s the whips

      The beatings will continue until morale improves!

    2. Cereberus
      Big Brother

      Re: It’s the whips

      See, it's that kind of liberal minded lily livered thinking that let's everyone down.

      The answer of course is to use the whips more and more. What they need to do though is take the spikes and hooks off the ends so the workers don't bleed as much, then they won't have people slipping and falling all over the place.

      Alternatively they could get some robot floor cleaners that dry the floor as they mop it, although knowing those stupid clunky humans that are so inefficient they would probably fall over the floor cleaners instead.

      /Sarcasm (just in case)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just say no to the Bezos borg

    don't buy anything from them.

    He could act like a decent human and treat his workers humanely but he won't. He sees them as a temporary roadblock in his quest for world domination of retail. Soon, those workers will be replaced by Robots. no need for pesky bathroom breaks for them. He can drive them even harder just to make another $0.10 an hour in profit.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: don't buy anything from them.

      But it's.......just..............so...............................convenient.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just say no to the Bezos borg

      "don't buy anything from them."

      Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

      Finally AliExpress will take over with even worse working conditions.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

        Or back up his bullshit advertising with some genuine working condition improvements. I'm sure he could find the money to do that if he gave a single shit about anyone else.

        He's not a wealth creator, he's sucking money out of the global economy and hoarding it.

        1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

          Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

          He's not a wealth creator, he's sucking money out of the global economy and hoarding it.[Citation needed]

          1. wub

            Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

            I loved your statement, but I did take a peek around the internet. We may be guilty of staying inside the same echo chamber.

            It wasn't too difficult to find this story which indicates that while most charitable giving declined last year, our good ol' buddy Jeff made the largest charitable donation of the year. Damn him!

            Still, it's a very small drop in his bucket...

            1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

              Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

              wub: "our good ol' buddy Jeff made the largest charitable donation of the year."

              The issue is whether his charitable donations exceed the damage done to people and the planet by Amazon's operations. Many extremely rich people make charitable donations, but when you find out where 'their money' comes from it is not clear whether their whole activities are a net benefit to society as a whole.

              I do not know the reality for Mr Bezos (or anyone else for that matter) as the calculation is fraught with difficulty, but the philosopher Peter Singer claims he gives one third of his academic salary to charity. The mathematician, Paul Erdos (pronounced 'air-dish') was once accosted by a beggar. Erdos opened his wallet, counted out the money he needed and gave the rest to the beggar.

              (I have never been so generous, so I'm probably a bit of a hypocrite in this respect, but then I'm not a multi-billionaire, either.)

            2. vtcodger Silver badge

              Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

              It wasn't too difficult to find this story which indicates that while most charitable giving declined last year, our good ol' buddy Jeff made the largest charitable donation of the year. Damn him!

              Which is fine. I guess. But the story got me wondering about whether the contribution was from Bezos or his (ex)wife who has been giving away a lot of money of late. Turns out it was from Bezos. Fine. But Gates and Buffett were missing too -- which seems odd. So I actually read the link and found this.

              Two billionaires who donated heavily to charity last year — MacKenzie Scott, Bezos' former wife, and Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter — did not make the Chronicle's list because no single donation of theirs was large enough to qualify. Rather than give billions to just one charity, both billionaires opted to make large donations to numerous causes.

              My take -- nothing actually wrong with the story. But it seems very far from being complete and comprehensive survey of charitable giving last year.

            3. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Then Bezos can get rid of all the staff, close down Amazon.

              I worked in another American company with a gazillionaire hero figure at the top.

              Through "tax efficiencies" and naked greed they cream money from our societies, then throw a few crumbs in charitable contributions to make them look like nice people.

              Bring in the CEO:Lowest paid worker salary comparison metric

    3. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Just say no to the Bezos borg

      > don't buy anything from them.

      Sure. As soon as other sites come up with decent stock, working payment systems, and improve customer service that manages to fall below even Amazon's low standards.

      1. Cuddles

        Re: Just say no to the Bezos borg

        I have no problem buying things from any number of shops that aren't Amazon. Most of it ends up being cheaper, usually has next-day delivery (not that most things actually need it), and almost always far better customer service. Plus usually much easier to actually find what you're looking for since it's not drowned out in a sea of counterfeit crap from fake sellers. And most shops have far better stock than Amazon, because they focus on having specific types of goods rather than just cramming in all the random shiny stuff they happen to trip over.

        The trick is simply that you have to remember there is more than one shop in the world. It's not actually necessary to buy every single thing from the same place. If you're capable of handling the horrific inconvenience of having to use more than one website, shops dedicated to selling specific goods are almost always far better than the likes of Amazon.

    4. onemark03

      Soon, those workers will be replaced by Robots.

      Exactly.

  3. Howard Sway Silver badge

    Soon, those workers will be replaced by Robots

    And when the robot maintenance engineers start complaining that the fast moving robots are mowing down the repair teams, Bezos will say "jump out of the way a bit quicker".

    It will be "we can't have safety cages on the mechanical looms to protect the child workers because that will reduce my profits" all over again.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Figures......

    "had a serious injury rate of 7.9 per 100 workers, more than 54 percent higher than the serious injury rate at non-robotic sortable facilities in the same year (5.1)."

    Either way, those figures are horrendous! If I am reading this right, 5.1% of their workers are seriously injured (needing up to 6 weeks to recover) each year?

    I thought such figures and working conditions were as historic as the Victorians...... How are they still in business?

    So glad i don't buy anything from that chain of ..........

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Figures......

      "If I am reading this right, 5.1% of their workers are seriously injured (needing up to 6 weeks to recover) each year?"

      Anyone know if there are similar stats for the UK or the EU where employment laws and H&S seem to be significantly different than the USA?

      1. renke

        Re: Figures......

        I got curious and invested some minutes of my employer's time*. For Germany I found a report for the trade sector: Branchenreport Handel. Pages 149 and 150 list workplace accidents for the sub sector and different job profiles in 2014.

        Warehouse workers (Lagerarbeiter) have the highest number: 5.1 reportable accidents per 1000 full-time positions. They quote the BGHW, one of the providers of the German statutory accident insurance. And accidents are more or less everything. If I fall asleep while working and have a QWERTZ imprint on my forehead my employer should notify the insurance (and likely will. it's a handy one-stop shop for both companies and injured employees and prevents civil action).

        One order of magnitude difference. And not only serious injuries. Quite shocking.

        *) please don't rat me out

  5. macjules
    Unhappy

    I didn't get to where I am today ..

    ... by worrying about my employees safety.

  6. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Amazon's executive committee and shareholders must be really distraught by such a terrible news, don't they?

    Without enforced laws protecting workers, this will happen, at Amazon or elsewhere.

  7. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Alert

    Amazen

    Stressed-out Amazon workers can now access ‘mindfulness’ training.

    Anxious employees can rest in ‘AmaZen’ ‘mindful practice rooms’ – coffin-like booths where they can watch dystopian corporate wellness seminars

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/02/amazon-workers-stress-mindfulness-training|

  8. Blackjack Silver badge

    Wonder if the next Bond villain will be a bald white man, because with Amazon now owning the movie rights that would be freaking hilarious.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I blame Wonka

    He started all this nonsense with his Oompa Loompas!

  10. Cliffwilliams44 Silver badge

    One question I have is, why in all these articles re: Amazon are the actual OSHA cases and subsequent fines not listed? I could do the research myself but that is not my job/responsibility. Having worked in the construction industry for over 30 years (My employer is a British multi-national, BTW) I can tell you that OSHA violations are no laughing matter! The fines are quite hefty and in our industry can seriously effect your ability to bid work. I have yet to see any one produce the total amount of OSHA fines paid by Amazon in any calendar year. From all of the horror stories produced int he media they should be kn the millions.

    Lastly, I am always skeptical about any such report produced by a Union as they have a particular ax to grind and a financial motivation in all the dues they would collect if Amazon were unionized.

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