Productivity Pressures Leading to More Injuries at Amazon

Warehouse workers can suffer serious injuries when they’re forced to do a job fast instead of right. The Delaware workers’ compensation attorneys of Silverman, McDonald & Friedman help injured workers claim benefits when they’re hurt on the job. Contact us in Seaford, Wilmington, or Newark to learn more.

You can get almost everything you want through Amazon. The items you want are stored in warehouses at Amazon sites throughout the country. Warehouse employees often do back-breaking work to pack, store, load, and unload all the merchandise consumers buy. A new study by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration now shows that working at an Amazon warehouse is nearly twice as dangerous as working at other warehouses.

According to a Washington Post news story, data from OSHA confirms that since 2017, Amazon workers reported a higher rate of “serious injury incidents” that caused workers to lose time from work or need to be transferred to less strenuous jobs than other warehouses. Amazon is the second-largest private employer in America.

The study showed that in 2020, “for every 200,000 hours worked at an Amazon warehouse in the United States — the equivalent of 100 employees working full time for a year — there were 5.9 serious incidents, according to the OSHA data.” By comparison, the rate of serious incidents for Walmart workers per 100 workers was just 2.5 serious injuries.

The Washington Post analysis of the OSHA data

The Post studied data from 5,411 facilities that are used for storage and warehousing; 638 of these facilities were owned by Amazon or its subsidiaries. The OSHA data didn’t detail why the incidents/accidents happened. Former OSHA officials, Amazon workers, and union representatives said that productivity pressures were responsible. They say that Amazon pressures many of its warehouse workers – especially workers at fulfillment centers, delivery stations, and sorting centers – “to meet hourly rates to stow, pick and pack items.” One Amazon worker at a Tulsa facility sad that Amazon’s expectations are not realistic.

Jeff Bezos told shareholders that the company doesn’t have “unreasonable performance goals.” Bezos stated that the company takes into account employee performance data and tenure. Most companies, including Amazon, do have some productivity performance measures. Amazon states that the company does provide “dedicated coaching” to employees whose performance metrics are subpar.

The Washington Post reported that, in 2020, Amazon did spend more than $1 billion for different safety measures including “stretching, meditation, and nutritional guidance” and more for Covid personal protective equipment. Amazon also hired 6,200+ employees for its workplace health and safety group.

Amazon claims that through ergonomic programs, exercises, workstation setup and design, forklift safety measures, and mechanical assistance  that the company is working to improve the safety of its workers.

Debbie Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief of staff and senior policy adviser, said that at Amazon, “the pace of work, and the amount of twisting and turning, is enormous.” She added that “There is a constant pressure to work fast.”

The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of labor unions that includes the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union, has released its own report. The report’s conclusions were similar to conclusions made by the Washington Post. “It’s a stunning degree of incompetence,” said Eric Frumin, the SOC’s health and safety director, about the high rate of injury at Amazon warehouses.

Amazon’s business accounts for nearly 40% of online retail in America. On May 13, Amazon announced it would be hiring another 75,000 employees at its fulfillment and transportation centers – paying employees an average of $17 an hour. The Washington Post’s analysis of data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that “many markets, including ones where the injury rates at its warehouses are highest, the average wage in comparable jobs is higher.”

What types of injuries do warehouse workers suffer?

Warehouse work requires intense and strenuous physical labor. Injuries are often due to lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, and moving heavy objects or many objects over a short time frame. Workers who operate forklifts are likely to suffer the most serious injuries.

Common workplace injuries at warehouses include:

• Forklift accidents. Employees may be injured or killed if a forklift overturns. Operators may be pinned by the forklift to the ground or to other objects. Workers may be injured by the forklift itself or by objects that fall from the forklift. Many warehouse workers fall from the forklift they’re operating. Injuries may include broken bones, amputation, spinal cord damage, internal organ damage, torn ligaments, and many other injuries.
• Injuries due to overexertion. Workers who regularly lift or move items may suffer back injuries, disc damage, rotator cuffs, labrum tears, and other injuries which often cause chronic pain.
• Repetitive stress injuries. A lot of warehouse work uses the same movements over and over, such those used in box folding and scanning items. Repetitive stress injuries include carpal tunnel syndrome, ganglion cysts, shoulder pain, and other injuries.
• Being struck by an object. Merchandise and tools can easily fall and strike a worker, causing brain injuries, concussions, and back injuries.
• Slip and fall accidents. Workers concentrate on what’s in front of them and what’s above them. They rarely spend much time looking at the floor while they work. Workers can easily slip on wet surfaces or trip over an object such as a product or a loose cord on the ground.

Loading dock injuries are also quite common for warehouse workers.

At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, our Delaware workers’ compensation work to show an accident occurred at work. There’s no need to prove fault. We do work with your doctors to prove your injuries are due to the accident or to workplace conditions. We fight to obtain the pay benefits you’re entitled to and payment for all your medical bills. To discuss your work injury claim, call us at 302.888.2900 or fill out our contact form to speak with our offices in Wilmington, Newark, and Seaford.