After an investigative report by The New York Times on how Amazon treats its employees, the online retail giant has come under scrutiny from customers and various organizations. The findings were surprising to many who rely on Amazon’s extensive services but aren’t familiar with its internal operations.
The report highlighted several safety incidents at the company’s facilities, such as electric shocks and workers fainting. Many accidents involved machinery, particularly forklifts. As a result, Amazon had to revamp its entire warehouse, purchasing new equipment from Coronado Equipment Sales’ used forklifts sale and setting up comprehensive guidelines for equipment use. The Rugeley warehouse, where these incidents occurred, employs about 1,800 people during off-peak times and over 2,000 during the busy Christmas season.
In contrast, a nearby Tesco warehouse of similar size reported only eight health and safety incidents despite having around 1,300 employees. This information came to light due to a union’s Freedom of Information request.
Amazon strongly denied accusations of unsafe working conditions, arguing that most ambulance calls to their fulfillment centers were for personal health issues unrelated to work. They also emphasized their safety record, noting that only 0.00001 ambulance visits per hour worked were recorded at their UK fulfillment centers last year, which is a remarkably low rate.
The New York Times reported that Amazon uses a performance-based strategy called “purposeful Darwinism” to weed out employees who can’t handle the demanding work culture, including those needing time off for family emergencies or personal health problems.