London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

Amazon slammed by US government for failing to record warehouse worker injuries. The investigation is ongoing.

Amazon slammed by US government for failing to record warehouse worker injuries. The investigation is ongoing.

Amazon has said it's reducing injuries at its warehouses. But if the company isn't recording all injuries, those claims could be hard to gauge.

Amazon kept some worker injuries off federally mandated injury reports, according to citations from an ongoing investigation of the company's warehouses by federal regulators.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the US Department of Labor, issued Amazon citations for 14 record-keeping violations, including failing to record injuries and illnesses, misclassifying injuries and illnesses, not recording injuries and illnesses within the required time, and not providing OSHA with timely injury and illness records. Regulators inspected six warehouses in Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Colorado, and New York.

The citations complicate Amazon's previous statements that the company is successfully lowering injury rates at its fulfillment centers. The company's self-reported data to the Department of Labor shows that Amazon warehouse employees get hurt roughly twice as often, on average, as non-Amazon workers in the same industry. Amazon has said it's taking steps to bring injury rates at its warehouses in line with the industry average by 2025.

An Insider investigation earlier this year found that Amazon's high productivity goals sharply increase the risk of injury for its more than 750,000 US warehouse workers. 


Nothing will be done if injuries are not recorded


On Friday, federal officials said Amazon's underreporting could make it harder for the company to address the root cause of injuries at its facilities. Regulators have previously found that Amazon's rigorous disciplinary framework for underperforming workers and the company's intense focus on speed and productivity are contributing to excessively high rates of strains and sprains at its warehouses. Amazon has denied that its productivity goals are causing injuries.

"Our concern is that nothing will be done to keep an injury from recurring if it isn't even recorded in the logbook which — in a company the size of Amazon — could have significant consequences for a large number of workers," Doug Parker, the Department of Labor's assistant secretary for health and safety, said in a statement.

Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, characterized the findings as "a small number of administrative errors."

The company is "confident in the numbers we've reported to the government," Nantel said, noting that regulators classified the violations as "other than serious," the least-severe category of workplace-safety infraction. "The safety of our employees is our top priority, and we invest hundreds of millions of dollars every year into ensuring we have a robust safety program to protect them," Nantel added.


An injury in Colorado goes unreported


The citations describe dozens of injuries that never made it into Amazon's official logs. The government requires that companies record every injury that requires medical treatment, time off, or a work accommodation.

One worker at an Amazon warehouse in Colorado, for instance, reported shoulder pain after repeatedly lifting packages. Amazon's in-house clinic gave the worker a prescription for a muscle relaxer, and after five days, transferred the worker to a new role that would not aggravate his injury. The company did not report this injury. 

At a warehouse in Albany, New York, where a union election earlier this fall ended in defeat for labor organizers, Amazon failed to record 11 injuries over a six-week period in 2022, according to the citations.

Following referrals from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Labor began investigating the Amazon warehouses this summer. Its investigation is ongoing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×