A Senate Democratic report released Monday accused Amazon of manipulating data on worker injuries and ignoring workplace concerns.
reportA report released Sunday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, R-Vt., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), examines whether Amazon makes its warehouses safer than they actually are. He claimed that the data was carefully selected to portray it as such.
The 160-page report, titled “'The Injury-Productivity Tradeoff': How Amazon's Obsession with Speed Creates Uniquely Dangerous Warehouses,” estimates the number of injuries recorded at Amazon warehouses in 2023. analysis shows that this was more than 30% higher than the warehouse industry average. .
“Amazon demands exorbitant fees from its workers and forces them to work in a system that treats them as disposable when they are injured.” Sanders wrote in a statement.
“We accept worker injuries and long-term pain and disability as a cost of doing business. We can't continue to do that.”
Amazon reacts fiercely It objected to the report, saying it contained “selective and outdated information that lacks context and is not based on reality” and was “contrary to fact.”
“There is absolutely no truth to the claims that we systematically underreport injuries,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement to The Hill.
The report is the final part of an 18-month investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety practices led by Sanders and Democrats on the HELP committee.
The report examines the past seven years of Amazon's injury data and features more than 130 interviews with Amazon employees and analysis of more than 1,400 documents, photos and videos provided by employees. .
The committee's report claimed that Amazon provided the HELP committee with “extremely limited information” amounting to approximately 280 documents, despite repeated requests for information.
Nantel said the report's claims that Amazon was uncooperative with the investigation were “unfortunate and untrue.”
“Sen. Mr. Sanders has requested a wide range of information, and we have responded to these requests voluntarily and in good faith from the beginning,” she said. “We have produced thousands of pages of information and data on safety programs, investments, and operations. We have also worked with Sen. We have had many meetings.”
Over the past seven years, Amazon workers were nearly twice as likely to be injured than workers at other warehouses, the report said. The report also claimed that more than two-thirds of Amazon's warehouses had injury rates above the industry average.
Numerous employees told the HELP committee that they experienced “debilitating” injuries, chronic pain, and decreased quality of life as a result of Amazon's alleged disregard for safety.
Nantel countered, “The fact is that our expectations for our employees are safe and reasonable, and they have been verified by both governments.” judge in washington After a thorough hearing, State Industrial Insurance Appeals Board“We have rescinded an ergonomic citation alleging work at an unsafe pace,” he said, referring to a years-long battle in Washington over workplace safety claims.
“We have made, and continue to make, meaningful progress in safety. Since 2019, recordable accident rates in the U.S. have improved by 28 percent, and lost-time injury rates (most serious injuries) have improved by 28 percent. improved by 75 percent.”
The report disputed Amazon's claims that injury rates were decreasing, saying the e-commerce company cited numbers compared to an “abnormal year.”
“There is absolutely no truth to the claim that we are systematically under-reporting injuries,” Nantel added.
The report also includes new information about two internal studies conducted at Amazon, including determining the maximum number of times warehouse workers can perform the same physical task without increasing the risk of harm. It also includes a 2021 study to make a decision, the report said.
The study, conducted by an Amazon team called “Project Elderwand,” created a way to keep the number of employees from exceeding that number, but it also looked at how it would impact the “customer experience.” After testing to confirm, the company chose not to implement the changes. Report.
Amazon declined to characterize the study in the report, saying it merely demonstrated how its ergonomics experts examine safety processes.
The company said it chose not to introduce the proposed changes because they were “ineffective” and touted a series of other changes it had made to reduce back issue rates among employees.
In another 2020 study by Amazon, “Project Soteria,” the tech giant sought to identify injury risk factors and suggested changes to lower injury rates, according to the report. The investigation said Amazon did not implement the recommendations even though studies showed “an association between speed and injuries.”
Nantel quoted Amazon's senior doctoral economist as saying the Project Soteria team found that there was “no chance relationship between work pace and increased injury rates.”
“It is a mistake to rely on analytically unsound documents like the Project Soteria paper in any objective report, yet ignore the evidence that Soteria is unsound. “We believe in it here, while keeping it to a minimum,” Amazon staff wrote in a blog post Monday.
Sanders has long been a critic of Amazon. Earlier this year, he released another report claiming that nearly half of Amazon employees were injured during the 2019 Prime Day sale.
Amazon has faced growing criticism over its workplace practices and has repeatedly clashed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).sued the companyIt means they have policies that make it more difficult for workers to organize and to retaliate against those who organize.
Thousands of Amazon workers around the world went on strike over Black Friday weekend last month, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. The strike, dubbed “Make Amazon Pay,” sparked demonstrations in more than 20 countries.
