Since 2015, Amazon has experienced over 440 health and safety incidents at its UK warehouses. This is according to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests.
It has been revealed that workers suffered fractures, head injuries, contusions, and collisions with heavy equipment. This is following the GMB union’s request of data from local authorities.
Earlier this year, Amazon raised its minimum wage for US and UK employees.
But, as the data collected reveals, in 2015-2016 there were 80 health and safety incidents. This increased to 114 in 2016-2017 and then to 149 in 2017-2018. Up until now in 2018-2019, 99 health and safety incidents have been reported.
The data reveals a variety of injuries sustained by warehouse workers. For example, staff worked in extremely low temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius at a warehouse in Dundee. Moreover, one worker was injured using their hand to remove a label that was trapped in a conveyor belt. Equally, another worker was injured after being knocked over and trapped underneath a reversing heavy goods vehicle. Not to mention a forklift driver who crashed into a column at a warehouse, almost causing a floor to collapse.
It has also become apparent that Amazon workers had complained to local authorities regarding their working conditions.
Amazon has denied these claims, insisting that it fosters a safe working environment. A spokes person for the company said:
“Amazon is a safe place to work and reports to the contrary are simply wrong,”
“Amazon has created more than 25,000 good jobs with good pay and benefits across Britain and we are proud of the work they do on behalf of customers every day.”
However, a spokesman from GMB has commented:
“Amazon’s claims over its health and safety record have not been independently verified, and there are good reasons to doubt that they are accurate,”
“GMB’s investigations at the Rugeley warehouse in Staffordshire suggests that the serious injury rate may be significantly higher than the sector average.
“If it wants to be taken seriously, Amazon should publish its own health and safety data and recognise GMB so workers have an independent voice through which to raise their serious concerns.”
Earlier this month, Bloomberg claimed that Amazon was among a handful of companies that had been hacked by Chinese spies.
