Amazon faces fine after workplace injuries improperly reported in 5 states, feds say
An Amazon worker had “pinching pain” that required medical care — but the online retailer didn’t report the on-the-job injury, federal officials said.
Amazon also is accused of not properly keeping records after an employee rolled their ankle on a loose mat and a worker had a “sudden shoulder pain” while picking up a box of kitty litter in another incident earlier this year.
While those incidents were reported in New York, Amazon facilities across five states were found to have lapses in their injury recordkeeping, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).
“OSHA issued Amazon citations for 14 recordkeeping violations, including failing to record injuries and illnesses, misclassifying injuries and illnesses, not recording injuries and illnesses within the required time, and not providing OSHA with timely injury and illness records,” the department of labor wrote Dec. 16 in a news release.
In response to a request for comment, Amazon told McClatchy News it was reviewing the OSHA allegations.
“The safety of our employees is our top priority, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars every year into ensuring we have a robust safety program to protect them,” an Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, wrote in an emailed statement. “Accurate recordkeeping is a critical element of that program and while we acknowledge there might have been a small number of administrative errors over the years, we are confident in the numbers we’ve reported to the government.”
Amazon faces a $29,008 fine related to the federal allegations, which the agency labeled as “other-than-serious.”
The Department of Labor announced the citation months after it inspected six Amazon facilities in July and August. The facilities were located in:
- Aurora, Colorado
- Deltona, Florida
- Waukegan, Illinois
- Nampa, Idaho
- Castleton-on-Hudson and New Windsor, New York
Several of the allegations outlined in OSHA documents center around the Castleton-on-Hudson center, where Amazon was accused of not filling out forms nearly a dozen times after workers were hurt. The company also took longer than the seven-day deadline to record injuries and labeled one worker’s injury incorrectly, according to federal officials.
“Solving health and safety problems in the workplace requires injury and illness records to be accurate and transparent,” Doug Parker, assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health, wrote the a news release. “Our concern is that nothing will be done to keep an injury from recurring if it isn’t even recorded in the logbook which — in a company the size of Amazon — could have significant consequences for a large number of workers.”
As of Dec. 16, OSHA continued to conduct investigations at the six facilities. After it receives the proposed fine and citation, Amazon has 15 business days to comply, counter the allegations or meet with a government representative, officials said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Amazon faces fine after workplace injuries improperly reported in 5 states, feds say."
