Amazon warehouses are dotted throughout our local communities, with more and more facilities being planned for both Indiana and Illinois. By December 2021, Amazon had eighteen (18) warehouses in Illinois and another eleven (11) warehouse facilities in Indiana in full operation as well as plans to build more, including a big storage facility in Elkhart, Indiana (scheduled to begin operations sometime this year). For details, read our earlier discussion in Fatal Industrial Warehouse Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
Of growing concern to safety agencies as well as those advocating for worker accident victims and their loved ones is the extent of danger facing those who work not only in our local warehousing industry with its recognized dangers, but specifically in the Amazon facilities.
After all, Amazon has the dubious reputation of being placed on OSHA’s Dirty Dozen list of the country’s twelve most dangerous employers for the past three (3) years. See, How Great is the Danger of Workers Dying in Fatal Work Accidents in 2022?
December 2021: Amazon Warehouse Tragedy Kills 6 Delivery Workers in Deadly Illinois Tornado
Less than a year ago, in December 2021, a tornado rampaged through Illinois and among its victims were workers inside the Amazon Warehouse Facility in Edwardsville, Illinois. Six people died in that warehouse when the tornado hit the building and another victim suffered serious injuries. All were employed as Delivery Service Providers by Illinois companies who contracted with Amazon. They tried to keep safe by huddling in a warehouse bathroom near the loading docks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) investigated the tragedy, issuing a “Hazard Alert Letter” to Amazon.com Services LLC on April 26, 2022.
From the OSHA correspondence comes a reference to the General Duty of Safety and Care imposed by law upon Amazon, as well as all other employers in Illinois, Indiana, and the rest of the nation. Three different concerns were voiced by the safety agency; however, regulators fell short of finding that Amazon had breached a legal duty in the tornado travesty.
Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, requires each employer to furnish employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. Since no OSHA standard applies and it is not considered appropriate at this time to invoke Section 5(a)(1), I recommend that you voluntarily take the necessary steps to eliminate or materially reduce your employees’ exposure to the risk factors described above. Feasible methods of control may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- All audible warning devices, as well as the location of the device(s), should be clearly identified within the severe weather emergency plan and readily accessible.
- Ensure that all employees who work throughout the facility including, vendors, and contracted personnel are provided training and participate in drills associated with the layout of the facility, warning and alert methods, and severe weather shelter locations.
- Site severe weather emergency plans should contain site specific information. When addressing severe weather emergency plan guidance, hazards beyond conditions involving a fire, any applicable exit route, exit door, shelter-in-place, or any other emergency plan guidance, should be identified within the written emergency plan.
The General Duty of Safety and Care, referenced in the OSHA Hazard Alert Letter as Section 5(a)(1), requires all employers in this country to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”
For more on the General Duty of Safety and Care, read our earlier discussion in Workplace Safety and OSHA Regulations in Indiana and Illinois.
July 2022: Illinois Amazon Warehouse Dangers Investigated by Federal Prosecutors
This month, further concerns have been raised by federal authorities into the potential dangers facing workers in local warehouse facilities owned or operated by Amazon. This is a very serious matter because the federal investigation is focusing not only upon possible safety violations but also intentional fraud by Amazon in failing to comply with federal regulations as required by law.
Read, “Amazon faces probe by federal prosecutors and OSHA into warehouse safety,” written by Annie Palmer and published by CNBC on July 19, 2022.
According to news reports, federal prosecutors in the civil division of the Office of the Attorney General for the Southern District of New York formally requested that OSHA inspect Amazon warehouses in Chicago as well as New York City and Orlando, Florida. Worker safety is the focus of the federal prosecutors.
People currently employed at Amazon warehouse facilities, as well as those who no longer work there are being invited by OSHA to complete an online form providing the authorities with information on things like worker injuries that were not given proper care and treatment as well as safety hazards tied to the “pace of work.”
Also read, “Amazon warehouses under investigation from federal prosecutors, Department of Labor” written by Aaron Katersky and published on July 19, 2022, by ABC News and “The US Government is inspecting Amazon warehouses over ‘potential worker safety hazards’,” written by Steve Dent and published by Engadget on July 19, 2022.
The result of this current federal inquiry may result not only in OSHA safety regulation penalties but federal allegations of fraud being brought against the company.
Amazon Accident Victims and Amazon Warehouse Workers Fight for Workplace Safety
Weather can be very dangerous in our part of the country, of course. We still remember with grave concern the risks facing those at the Indiana State Fair and the horrific aftermath of the winds that day.
Tornados like the one that hit the Amazon Warehouse last year are not unknown to our area and the danger of death they bring with them is not unforeseen by employers. Couple this with this month’s announcement of federal investigators entering Illinois warehouse facilities operated by Amazon, and its confirmed attitude toward worker safety with its three-year spotlight on the Dirty Dozen list. Also read one study reporting that Amazon’s warehouses had more than 9 out of every 100 workers suffering from an on-the-job injury. Read, “Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Maiming Employees,” written by Will Evans and published by The Atlantic on November 25, 2019.
The result: many are asking how great is the danger facing anyone working in an Amazon warehouse facility in Indiana or Illinois? How can they be kept safe from harm, particularly during the pressures of the upcoming Christmas shopping season dovetailed with its winter weather conditions?
For more, read:
- Warehouse Accidents: Workers in One of the Deadliest Jobs in Indiana and Illinois
- Forklift Accidents: Serious and Deadly Industrial Truck Injuries on the Job
- Heavy Machinery Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Lone Workers: Employer’s Duty of Care.
A complicating factor here: the practice that Amazon has of contracting with local companies to provide workers for its operations. This creates another layer of responsibility – and possible legal liability – for these companies who are hiring people and then directing them to work at a local Amazon warehouse.
For more on multiple employer liability for worker accidents, read our discussions in:
- Semi-Truck Crashes: Who Can Be Held Legally Responsible for Commercial Trucking Accidents in Indiana and Illinois?
- Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
Amazon warehouses provide a great service to the general public and were especially important during the Pandemic and its quarantines. However, worker safety cannot be jettisoned by timeframes, delivery deadlines, and the like. Amazon needs to be safer and Amazon workers need to understand they may be working in shockingly unsafe conditions. Please be careful out there!
