Labors amazon

On this occasion, the US Department of Labor accused Amazon for not taking care of the integrity of its warehouse workers at locations in Florida, Illinois and New York.
The Department of Labor, a government agency to protect the safety of workers in the United States, accused Amazon of endangering its warehouse employees at three of its facilities in the United States. The agency noted that the company faces a total of $60,269 in proposed penalties.

This Wednesday, the government agency announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which it is in charge of, summoned Amazon and issued danger letters related to the risks of injuries to workers who lift packages. after inspecting three storage facilities in Deltona, Florida; Waukegan, Ill.; and New Windsor, New York.

“Each of these inspections found work processes that were designed for speed but not safety, and resulted in serious injuries to workers,” OSHA deputy labor secretary Doug Parker said in Wednesday’s statement.

The DOL asserted that OSHA investigators found that Amazon warehouse workers were at increased risk of lower back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders related to the high frequency with which their workers are required to lift packages, the weight of these items, the awkward postures required when lifting, and the long hours required to complete assigned tasks.

“While Amazon has built impressive systems to make sure its customers’ orders ship efficiently and quickly, the company hasn’t shown the same level of commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of its workers,” Parker added.

According to an Amazon spokesperson, the company “strongly” disagrees with OSHA’s ruling and will seek an appeal.

“We have fully cooperated and the government’s allegations do not reflect the reality of security at our sites,” Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in a statement Wednesday. “Over the past several months, we have demonstrated how far we work every day to mitigate risk and protect our people, and our publicly available data shows that we have reduced injury rates by nearly 15% between 2019 and 2021.”

The company said it has taken a number of measures to reduce the risk of injury, including introducing stretching groups, reminding workers to take breaks and rotating jobs. But Amazon is also known for carefully tracking worker productivity and working conditions that have been called “grueling.”

“My workday feels like one intense nine-hour workout every day,” said Jennifer Bates, an Amazon warehouse worker who helped organize a union drive at an Alabama facility, in testimony before the Budget Committee. of the Senate in 2021. “And they track our every move.”

A study published last year by a coalition of unions found that the rate of serious injuries in 2021 at Amazon warehouses in the US was double that at other non-Amazon warehouses. At the time, the company claimed that it and other companies “saw an increase in recordable injuries during this time from 2020 to 2021 as we train so many new people” to meet demand early in the pandemic.

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