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A report released by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) has criticized the safety practices in Amazon warehouses around its annual Prime Day event.
The report, released Monday by Senator Bernie Sanders, suggests that Amazon Prime Day – held this year on July 16 and July 17 – is a “a major cause of injuries for the warehouse workers who make it possible.”
The HELP committee identifies “extremely unsafe conditions in Amazon warehouses during Prime Day and the holiday season,” suggesting the e-commerce company should “do more” to protect its warehouse staff.
HELP Committee: Warehouse workers pressured to “ignore safety guidelines”
The report refers to Amazon warehouse injury rate data from 2019, which has been made publicly available for the first time.
During Prime Day in 2019, the rate of recordable injuries – those which an employer must disclose to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – was over ten injuries per 100 workers, more than double the warehouse industry average.
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The HELP committee also found that the total injury rate including those that Amazon does not need to disclose to OSHA totaled nearly 45 injuries per 100 workers. This means nearly half of Amazon’s warehouse workers reportedly sustained an injury during Prime Day in 2019.
According to the committee, which also spoke with hundreds of current and former Amazon employees, the high rates at peak times like Prime Day can be attributed to extremely high volumes and “intense pressure to work long hours and ignore safety guidelines.”
“These injury rates are especially egregious in light of the incredible revenue the company generates and the resources it has available to make its warehouses safe for workers,” the committee said.
During Amazon’s Prime Day event in 2023, the company sold 375 million products in two days, reaching $12.7billion in sales.
Amazon & senate committee disagree on injury rate performance
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, disputed the findings of the report in a statement to CNN.
Nantel argued the total injury rate cited by the HELP committee report was from a 2019 document that used a “flawed methodology” and was “rejected by experts who specialize in data analysis.”
The spokesperson also claimed that the “safety and health of our employees is and always will be our top priority.”
“And since 2019, we’ve made significant progress — reducing our recordable incident rate (which includes anything that requires more than basic first aid) in the US by 28%,” she added.
Amazon says that it always plans for major events, ensuring that there is sufficient staffing and capacity to handle peaks in demand or spikes in volume during major events like Prime Day.
However, the committee claims that the company has a “disturbing culture of “constantly bypass[ing] safety in favor of productivity”,” including an allegation that Amazon avoids referring injured workers beyond first aid to outside medical care in a bid to lower its recordable injury rate.
Some Amazon workers recently spoke out about the injuries they sustained while working in the company’s warehouses. The employees say they have turned to GoFundMe, an online fundraising site, claiming they have been denied compensation and benefits, and criticizing Amazon’s first aid practices.
The report also notes that Amazon itself has previously identified issues with understaffing at peak times, including an acknowledgment in its 2023 Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission: “We may be unable to adequately staff our fulfillment network and customer service centers during these peak periods,” Amazon stated.
“Amazon must address its injury crisis and ensure that all workers are safe at their jobs, especially during the most intense and demanding periods,” the HELP committee report recommends.
