Why So Many Amazon Workers Are Getting Hurt

For years, Amazon warehouse workers have been speaking up about unsafe conditions and the risk of injury they say they face while churning out millions of packages every day. Now their claims are being backed up by federal investigators who cited Amazon for “failing to keep workers safe” and new 2022 facility-level injury data that shows Amazon workers get injured at a rate of 6.9 for every 100 workers. CNBC spoke with Amazon workers who’ve been hurt and asked the government, and Amazon, what’s being done to make warehouses safer.

Chapters:
00:00 — Introduction
02:13 – Injured at higher rates
07:09 — How workers get hurt
10:25 — Problematic injury reporting
14:42 — Promises to do better
19:21 — Workers taking action

Produced and Shot by: Katie Tarasov
Edit by: Evan Lee Miller
Animation: Christina Locopo, Jason Reginato and Alex Wood
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Camera: Liam Mays and Lucas Mullikin
Additional Footage: Amazon, Bobby Gosvener, C-SPAN2, Getty Images, Jennifer Crane, Lanita Hammons, Strategic Organizing Center, ​​The Committee on Education & The Workforce

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Why So Many Amazon Workers Are Getting Hurt

[PhilIpp]

Having worked at Amazon in Germany, I can confirm that their priority is to maximise shareholder value. Workers are just a tool to them. When the tool breaks, they throw it away.

[kennethstrickland]

I work at an Amazon here in Dallas TX. I have been here since July of 2020. I can 100% confirm that the work here is dangerous and will eventually lead to injury. On top of that amazon is a point and blame company, nobody ever takes responsibility for a problem or injury in fear of retaliation that they may be fired or scrutinized. One incident that I witnessed is a woman in her 50s had severe pain in her knees from the strain of climbing and going down on the ladder at her station, she made a safety andon and her manager took her to AMCARE. The safety workers urged her to say that this is not a work related injury and that if she did say it was she could have issues with continuing to work for amazon, so she did what they said and now she continues to work with this injury complaining everyday. She can’t afford to loose her job but the way I see it Amazon is just waiting to give her enough write ups to fire her or till she quits. Amazon is a disgrace of a company in the way they take safety into account.

[Kevin_geekgineering]

it makes me sick to see corporations are always above the law, and justice system or government do nothing about it

[robertoooooo]

Stop trusting supervisors, managers, hr, and anybody else that isn’t prioritizing your safety when it comes to hard labor; walk out/away before it gets to the point of injury.

[visceratrocar]

I find it interesting how Amazon will do ANYTHING other than lowering their ridiculous high productivity expectations. 80 packages an hour regardless of size or weight is ludacris.

[jlcii]

As someone who worked at Amazon before, I definitely agree that their rate system is the main problem. They want you to be unrealistic reproductive, even if it results in extreme exhaustion or injury, and then threaten you in the event that you don't hit the productivity they want, or just fire you all together. Not to mention, you using the restroom it's considered a time-off task, meaning you can be punished for the time it takes to walk across a large Warehouse, use the restroom, and come back to your station. This place is completely inhumane to work for

[-cheshire-cat]

You would think learning that delivery drivers pee in bottles would be your first clue something isn't right with this company.

[joshuarivera]

I work for 2 weeks then quit, it was WAY too physically demanding.

[BrambleGlade]

Seems like the biggest issue is the speed/time requirements -- perhaps we as consumers/suppliers need to move away from 1-2 day shipping in general

[謬]

Old people shouldn't be doing warehouse work. They shouldn't be working AT ALL. This is a sign of a failing nation.

[babygraceblue]

I worked in a fulfillment center for a very short period of time and there were 2 strokes and many injuries. It really bothered and disgusted me with the company- there are middle aged people who should have so much life left DYING just to line greedy peoples’ pockets.

[GaiaCarney]

➡️Look at the trail of devastation Amazon has left:

First, they put local bookstores out of business by undercutting their prices and offering a huge selection a local store could never stock!

Second, Amazon put local pharmacies out of business by selling all the sundries pharmacies once sold at prices local businesses could never maintain. Then Kroger/CVS/Walgreens came in and swooped up all the customers.

Third, Amazon came for local clothing stores, hardware stores and small grocery stores.

These (relatively) small local businesses could NEVER buy in the volume Amazon could! So they could NEVER compete price wise with their products or selection.

Every local business that shut down cast their employees to the greater job market and likely farther from home to find work.

Now, Amazon is plowing through millions of American workers, leaving them broken and stressed.

Is 1-2 day shipping worth all this devastation?? Isn’t it sad to see empty storefronts where there used to be locally owned businesses??

Just say NO to Amazon! There is no value in supporting such a behemoth.

[ahotdj]

I shop at Amazon a lot. Although I’m a prime member, I’m fine with getting my orders in a few days. I don’t need 1-2 day shipment. Especially if it means the safety of their staff.

[gsykes]

I wish these interviews included Amazon delivery drivers. I worked for a company contracted to deliver for Amazon. In a month over 10 of us were injured. Some were broken ankles. I broke my hip in 2017, my supervisor saw me in pain after my shift and told me to go home. I was told it didn't happen on the job. Never received any compensation, not even worker's comp... was actually sued by the hospital for not being able to pay the 50k bill...

[sniferlip]

I worked for Amazon as a lark. Bottom line, they are working people until they exhaust their energy and push them until they either get injured or quit.

[SocietyNeedsImprovement]

A pandemic is not an excuse to put safety standards on hold. It amazes me how the OSHA employee seems to go along with that reasoning.

[girlofthex]

I’m a happy Amazon shopper and it pains me to know that the employees are treated like an an enemy instead of the MOST valuable member of the team. I can wait 3 or 4 extra days to receive my order if it means the employees are safer.

[shadowsoulless]

My friend went to work at a (at the time) newly built Amazon warehouse in the area. They pushed him they overworked him and basically abused him like a workhorse for 3 months to the point where he was left with a permanent back injury. He doesn't have the money to sue or anything and he tried complaining and they basically told him they didn't care. They just complained he wasn't working as fast. He eventually quit because it was so painful.
Amazon will be like "I will pay you $22 an hour and you don't need any education!" And then in a couple of months you're used up and they toss you away.

[bonbonjovi]

As someone who worked for Amazon's competitors, looks like to me Amazon isn't paying of OSHA. Working a warehouse job while in college, we were giving notice days before OSHA came by so we can memorize all the safety questions they were gonna ask us and on the day they came, we pretty much put on a "show" for them. That place was so focused on production, we worked unsafe to meet those goals daily and the unsafe working was encouraged without saying it. I worked unsafe and never got written up for it, but soon as my production dropped below goal, write was waiting for me. There were also couple of injuries a month. Made friends there while working, and they tell me things have not changed. Also, they have not seen OSHA come by for about 8 years now.

[greatwhiteswag]

While working for Amazon, I had to continue to work while injured because it wasn't an option to take time off if you wanted to keep your job. I finally had to take a day off for it and was fired the next day.