The Feds Are Investigating Amazon Warehouse Working Conditions Nationwide

Amazon warehouses are notoriously harmful, disagreeable locations to work. Now, the Department of Labor and Federal Prosecutors in New York are probing the corporate’s warehouses throughout the nation as a part of a civil investigation into alleged unsafe office circumstances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is “investigating workplace safety and related issues at Amazon warehouses, including injuries resulting from workplace hazards, worker rate requirements and the pace of work, and whether Amazon appropriately reported on-the-job injuries,” in accordance with a statement on the district’s web site.

On Monday morning, inspectors from the Labor Departments’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration started their first Amazon facility visits.

“[Yesterday] morning, the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration entered Amazon warehouses outside New York City, Chicago and Orlando to conduct workplace safety inspections in response to referrals received from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York concerning potential workplace hazards related, among other things, to Amazon’s required pace of work for its warehouse employees,” a spokesperson from the Southern District of New York workplace, Nicholas Biase, told ABC News in a press release.

“The Civil Division of the SDNY is investigating potential worker safety hazards at Amazon warehouses across the country, as well as possible fraudulent conduct designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others,” Biase additional stated. The workplace didn’t instantly reply to Gizmodo’s request for remark.

A Department of Labor spokesperson told CNBC that the company “routinely receives referrals” from varied teams about office violations at Amazon warehouses, and that they’ve opened investigations into services in New York, Illinois, and Florida. Amazon didn’t instantly reply to Gizmodo’s request for remark.

As a part of the continued investigation, the Southern District of New York is gathering stories from present and former warehouse employees, and others with related data. Those who’ve details about Amazon issues of safety are inspired by the workplace to share that data on the Justice Department’s website.

Amazon warehouses, or “fulfillment centers” as the corporate calls them, have been the middle of office investigations and authorized battles earlier than. In March, a probe by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries found that the company was “knowingly putting workers at risk of injury,” in a warehouse in Kent, Washington. The discovering resulted in a $60,000 positive (not a lot, for the U.S.’s largest on-line retailer.) Back in 2021, New York’s Attorney General sued Amazon for disregarding covid-19 security insurance policies.

Government actions apart, the corporate’s personal information have revealed startling numbers of employee accidents and heavy monitoring and self-discipline for workers who can’t meet excessive quotas.