I am not at all surprised that, Amazon’s warehouses have an 80% higher injury rate than the industry norm.

This is completely not a surprise:

Employees at US Amazon warehouses are injured at a higher rate than those doing similar jobs at other companies’ warehouses, a new report has found.

A union-backed study of safety data found Amazon workers had 5.9 serious injuries per 100 people – almost 80% higher than the rest of the industry.

The study’s organisers blamed Amazon’s “obsession with speed” as a main cause of the problem.

It is the latest in a string of controversies around worker safety. 

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This new study comes from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of labour unions. It analysed workplace safety data reported to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration from 2017 to 2020.

It found that “workers at Amazon warehouses are not only injured more frequently than in non-Amazon warehouses, they are also injured more severely”. 

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And compared to its largest retail competitor Walmart, Amazon’s overall injury rate was more than double, at 6.5 per 100 employees compared with three.

An independent analysis of the same data by The Washington Post reached similar conclusions.

The Post conducted its own analysis of the OSHA data, and came to the same conclusions.

The Washington Postis owned by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, so this qualifies as a statement against its own interest..

The SOC characterised the report as an “epidemic of workplace injuries”.

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But technology news site Motherboard has this week published an Amazon warehouse pamphlet issued under the “working well” branding, which tells workers they should think of themselves as “industrial athletes”.

“Just like an athlete who trains for an event, industrial athletes need to prepare their bodies to be able to perform their best at work,” it warns.

“Some positions will walk up to 13 miles a day… [others] will have a total of 20,000lb (9,072kg) lifted before they complete their shift,” it said.

The pamphlet, from a Tulsa warehouse, also offers tips on health and fitness. It encourages exercise on days off, a good diet to fuel the 400 calories an hour the company expects employees to burn, and tips on buying shoes to fit swollen feet from the active working environment.

Amazon told Motherboard that the pamphlet had been created in error and removed – though the employee who gave it to the publication said it was available on-site for months.

So, it appears that Amazon thinks that its employees should be Olympians, and sets metrics accordingly.

Your Amazon order is literally being paid for with the blood of its employees.

It’s time to find another online marketplace.