A federal regulator issued more than a dozen violations as part of its ongoing investigation into Amazon, claiming that the company failed to record work-related injuries at its facilities in five states adequately.
In this photograph taken on November 18, 2020 in Lille, a person poses with a smartphone showing an Amazon logo, in front of a computer screen displaying the home page of Amazon France sales website. - Elected officials and associations calling for a boycott, small shopkeepers denouncing unfair competition, trade unions protesting against harsh working conditions.
14 Violations
AP reports that six Amazon facilities in New York, Illinois, Colorado, Idaho, and Florida, were inspected over the summer by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which issued 14 violations.
The violations included failing to properly identify injuries and illnesses, not documenting them within the required time, and failing to provide the agency with timely records of such incidents, according to OSHA.
The e-commerce behemoth, which made over $33 billion in revenue last year, will pay fines of around $29,000.
However, Amazon's spokesperson Kelly Nansel claimed that the business spends millions on its safety program to protect its employees.
She claims that accurate record-keeping is a key aspect of the program and acknowledges that there may have been a few administrative errors over the past few years.
Nantel said that they are confident in the numbers that they reported to the government, adding, " "all of the alleged violations are 'other than serious' and involve minor infractions."
Amazon's Workplace Injuries
Amazon has long been criticized for its high incidence of workplace injuries, which the business admits are occasionally higher than the industry norm.
The CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy, stated earlier this year that although the company's data indicates injury rates for its delivery and courier workers were lower than average, the rates for its warehouse workers were higher.
AP notes that labor and safety experts have questioned the company's methods for measuring the productivity levels of package workers and claim that the fast-paced nature of the warehouses may increase the incidence of injuries.
Amazon has stated that it does not set productivity quotas and only compares its employees to their counterparts when evaluating them.
The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York received recommendations that led to the citations.
According to Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in New York, the civil division of the office and OHSA are looking into worker safety at Amazon warehouses as well as possible fraudulent behavior intended to conceal accidents from OSHA and other agencies.
Former and present Amazon employees are encouraged to contact the attorney's office immediately to report any safety concerns.
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