Amazon workers injured at higher rates than other warehouse employees

Amazon warehouse workers are twice as likely to be injured as other warehouse laborers, according to a recent study, and an Inland Empire warehouse worker advocacy group says on-the-job injuries are even worse in Amazon's California warehouses.

“The Injury Machine: How Amazon's Production System Hurts Workers” pointed to the online retailer's emphasis on fast delivery for endangering workers at fulfillment centers like those dotting the Inland Empire's landscape — part of a logistics boom that's transformed the local economy and made the region a key cog in the national supply chain.

“Amazon's back-breaking work pace is only getting worse,” Eric Frumin, director of health and safety at the Strategic Organizing Center, which wrote the study, said in a news release. “… The company's obsession with speed is crushing tens of thousands of workers each year, and Amazon seems to have no plan to stop.”

The Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor unions, attributes its findings to its review of injury data submitted by Amazon to OSHA.

In an emailed statement, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the company “hired tens of thousands of additional people” to meet the demand for online shopping spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Like other companies in the industry, we saw an increase in recordable injuries during this time from 2020 to 2021 as we trained so many new people,” Nantel said, adding that federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration data showed Amazon's recordable injury rate fell more than 13% from 2019 to 2021 while the rate for “three other large retailers” rose.

“While we still have more work to do and won't be satisfied until we are excellent when it comes to safety, we continue to make measurable improvements in reducing injuries and keeping employees safe,” Nantel said.

Safety is always a focus for the logistics industry, Rex Beck, a professor of business and logistics management at Norco College, said via email.

“Safety has forever been an area of concern in warehousing and it will continue to be so in the future. There is always room for improvement,” Beck said. “With assistance from Cal/OSHA, I am hopeful that Amazon will focus on future worker safety and training.”

Amazon has at least 15 fulfillment centers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to a company that helps businesses selling goods on Amazon.

Union drives have started at Amazon facilities nationwide, with workers voting to unionize in Alabama and Staten Island. Sheheryar Kaoosji, executive director of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, which advocates for Inland warehouse workers, said he's not aware of any active union campaigns at Inland Amazon sites.