Amazon warehouses in New York City and elsewhere are being investigated by federal prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Labor for unsafe workplace conditions, ABC News reported. A spokesperson said in a statement, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been conducting inspections “regarding Amazon’s required speed of work for warehouse workers.” “.
In addition to probing potential safety hazards, investigators are also looking into “fraud that may have been designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others,” the agency added. . It said it had opened an investigation based on the U.S. Attorney’s referral for the Southern District of New York regarding allegations of health and safety violations. It is also probing Amazon locations outside of Illinois and Florida.
Over the past few years, Amazon has faced a number of complaints and probes about workplace safety, especially around demanding tasks. Earlier this year, the Washington State Department of Labor quote and fined the company for “working hard at an unsafe speed” in Kent. Last year, the company released rare apology for tweets attacking criticisms of working conditions, specifically that drivers and other workers are forced to urinate in bottles to achieve goals.
Following the collapse of a warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois during a hurricane, the company was criticized by members of Congress and the Senate for “totally not enough“warehouse safety. In April, workers at New York’s Staten Island warehouse voted to form the company’s first U.S. union.
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