Amazon's Pandemic Business Surge Tied to Increase in Injuries

Friday, April 15, 2022 | 0

A coalition of worker unions analyzed injury reports from Amazon Inc. warehouses and found that injuries among employees increased by 20% in the pandemic.

The Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of four labor unions, analyzed the injury data that Amazon submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and found that in 2021, the serious injury rate at Amazon warehouses was 6.8 per 100 workers — more than double the rate at non-Amazon warehouses of 3.3 injuries per 100 workers, according to a report released Tuesday.

While Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse workers in 2021, the company was responsible for 49% of all injuries in the industry last year, according to the analysis.

Amazon’s overall injury rate over the last five years has sat above 7.4 injuries per 100 full-time equivalent workers in all but one year. The injury rate in 2021, 7.9 injuries per 100 workers, is the second-highest rate in the past five years and a sharp increase from 2020, the report states.

The only year that Amazon’s injury rates declined — 2020 — was the same year that the company temporarily eased its work speed pressures as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic by suspending disciplinary action against workers for underperformance on productivity metrics, the report states.

Acknowledging its problem, Amazon declared in April 2021 that it aims to cut injury rates by 50% by 2025, the report states.

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