"The shockingly dangerous working conditions at Amazon's warehouses revealed in this 160-page report are beyond unacceptable," Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday after the Senate panel he chairs released the results of its investigation of the online retail giant. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions—HELP—investigation found that Amazon itself had investigated the link between its production quotas and injury rates, but execs rejected recommendations from health and safety personnel, apparently out of concern that relaxing quotas would reduce productivity, the New York Times reports.
"Amazon's executives repeatedly chose to put profits ahead of the health and safety of its workers by ignoring recommendations that would substantially reduce injuries," Sanders said. The panel's investigation, which was launched last year, included interviews with more than 130 current and former Amazon workers.
- Project Elderwand. One internal Amazon study was called Project Elderwand. It determined that the "likelihood of back injury increases" with the number of items picked from shelf units and recommended improvements including an expansion of a "microbreaks" program, the AP reports. Amazon told the panel the recommendations were not implemented due to "technical reasons."
- Project Soteria. In Project Soteria, another internal study Amazon failed to act on, the company found that a faster pace of work led to a higher injury rate, the Times reports. The study recommended giving workers more time off and not disciplining those who failed to meet quotas. Amazon said Sunday that a third investigation found that Project Soteria's work was flawed.
- No "magic" in use. "I don't even use Amazon anymore, I'd rather wait … than have some poor employee in an Amazon warehouse get battered and bruised so I can get my book within six hours," one worker told the committee, per the Washington Post. "People don't see that, they think it just appears by magic. But it doesn't, it appears by blood, sweat, and tears."
The report found that Amazon workers were 30% more likely to be injured than the industry average last year, Axios reports. It also accused the company of manipulating data on worker injuries. In a blog post, Amazon pushed back against the report, saying it features "selective, outdated information that lacks context and isn't grounded in reality." The company called the report "a pre-conceived and one-sided narrative," arguing that it has made, and continues to make, improvements to safety. (More Amazon stories.)
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