Workers at Amazon.com Inc.’s warehouses are nearly twice as likely to suffer a serious injury as people working for other companies in the industry, according to a report published today.

The Strategic Organizing Center wrote that while Amazon’s e-commerce business has boomed during the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, it has come at a cost to its workers’ health and safety. Nonetheless, this isn’t the first year that the target-obsessed company has come under fire for its warehouse safety standards.

In 2020, Occupational Safety and Health Administration research shows that workers suffered 5.9 serious injuries for every 200,000 hours worked for 100 full-time workers. The study found that across the rest of the industry, there were 3.3 injuries for the same time worked, while Amazon’s main competitor, Walmart Inc., had a rate of 2.5 serious injuries. “Serious” was described as an injury that required time off work or a shift in responsibilities.

On the positive side, as was reported by The Washington Post, in terms of serious injuries at its warehouses, this year was better than the three previous years. Just last month, Amazon said it planned to cut incident rates by 50% by 2025 in a bid to become “Earth’s Safest Place to Work” as part of its WorkingWell initiative.

“Amazon takes our safety very seriously, and my managers have made it clear to me it’s more important than anything, even productivity and quality,” said Jeffrey Ku, an operations employee at an Amazon fulfillment center. “WorkingWell is an extension of that — it makes sure we’re taking care of our minds and bodies. It encourages us to make positive changes to how we work, and since I started watching the program’s health and safety videos, I’ve incorporated a stretching routine into my day.”

According to Amazon’s critics, both within the company and outside, one of the reasons for so many accidents, even with the improvements made, is unrealistic targets for workers. It’s reported that as part of its WorkingWell program, workers are asked to become “industrial athletes” who eat well and sleep well.

That might be a bridge too far for workers, especially as Amazon tracks their productivity throughout the day and how much time they’re not on the job – what Amazon calls “time off task.” Amazon says this is more about spotting “operational systemic defects” rather than coming down hard on workers, although people can be warned or get fired for too much time off-task.

In a blog post today, Amazon said it will extend “Time off Task over a longer period.” The company didn’t mention the safety report, although reiterated that it will become the safest place in the world to work. The post also explained that from now on, workers will not be tested for marijuana in their blood and “will instead treat it the same as alcohol use.”

Photo: Scott Lewis/Flickr