Amazon Warehouse Injuries '80% Higher' Than Competitors, Report Claims

smooth wombat writes: Problems at Amazon warehouses are well known, such as employees not having enough time to use the restroom (and getting docked pay for doing so) to insufficient protections during the pandemic, which lead to numerous deaths and nearly 20,000 infections (Note: the total number of infections is both Amazon and Whole Foods. Amazon declined to provide a break out of infections at each location). Now comes a union-backed study which indicates the number of injuries at Amazon warehouses is 80% higher than its competitors.

The BBC reports: '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.' Workers forced to take time off for injuries were absent for an average of 46.3 days, it said -- a week longer than the average across the warehouse industry. 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.'

In response to the study, Amazon equated its workers to 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.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.