Amazon’s relentless pursuit of speed is leaving its warehouse workers injured at alarming rates.

A US Senate committee has accused Amazon of fostering a hazardous workplace culture prioritising speed over safety, alleging systemic safety failures and calls for regulatory reforms.

A report by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (PDF) describes Amazon’s warehouses as “shockingly dangerous”. 

It claims the company imposes productivity quotas that are “nearly impossible to follow” without compromising safety.

The investigation also highlighted efforts by Amazon to minimise reporting of workplace injuries. 

This includes practices designed to discourage employees from seeking medical treatment outside the company and pressuring injured workers to return prematurely to their roles.

“Amazon’s executives repeatedly chose to put profits ahead of the health and safety of its workers,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, who led the investigation.

According to the report, Amazon warehouse workers were 30 per cent more likely to be injured in 2023 than those at non-Amazon facilities. 

Over two-thirds of Amazon’s U.S. warehouses reportedly recorded injury rates higher than the industry average. 

The report also alleged that Amazon manipulated its injury data to underreport incidents to federal regulators.

One worker recounted their decision to boycott Amazon due to its working conditions. 

“I’d rather wait for my book than have an Amazon employee get battered and bruised so I can have it in six hours,” they told investigators.

Amazon has refuted the report, with spokesperson Kelly Nantel calling it “wrong on the facts”. 

The company claims to have improved safety measures, reducing recordable incident rates by 28 per cent in the US since 2019. Amazon also invited Sanders to visit its facilities, stating that requests for meetings have gone unanswered.

“We’ve made meaningful progress on safety,” Nantel said. 

“Our expectations for employees are safe and reasonable.”

The Senate report recommends federal measures to protect warehouse workers, including a mandate for companies to disclose productivity quotas and limits on practices delaying medical care for injuries. 

The report also calls for stronger penalties for companies that under report workplace injuries.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has already proposed fines exceeding US$100,000 for Amazon, citing violations at multiple facilities where workers faced risks of musculoskeletal disorders.

Documents cited in the Senate report revealed Amazon conducted internal studies linking worker speed to injury rates but failed to act on recommendations to slow productivity demands. The company allegedly prioritised productivity over implementing safety measures, including findings from its own “Project Soteria”.

Workers described enduring repetitive motions at extreme rates, sometimes thousands of times per shift, causing injuries to their backs, shoulders, and other areas. 

The report concluded that Amazon’s injury crisis reflects a corporate culture where speed and profit outweigh worker wellbeing.

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