Amazon warehouse workers get injured because of Prime Day rushes, according to a Senate report

Almost half the Amazon workers in warehouses during Prime Day 2019 were injured, a Senate report said, adding to evidence the work comes with risks.

• Amazon's Prime Day is a major contributor to warehouse worker injuries.
• That's according to a new report from a US Senate committee.
• Amazon warehouse workers have faced potential injuries related to moving packages and merchandise.

Amazon warehouse workers who move the retailer's merchandise during Prime Day get hurt — a lot.

That's one of the key findings from a preliminary report from the US Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released on Tuesday.

The report is the result of a yearlong investigation into what it's like to work at Amazon's warehouses.

Among HELP's findings was that, during Amazon's Prime Day shopping event in 2019, the tech and retail giant reported 10 injuries per 100 warehouse workers to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Prime Day, which results in a high volume of orders, is taking place July 16 and 17 this year.

That rate represents the injuries that Amazon is legally required to report to the government. It's also already "more than double the industry average," the committee wrote.

"But this number does not tell the full story," the preliminary results read. The committee estimates that the real rate at Amazon's warehouses is 45 injuries per 100 workers.

"That is nearly half of the company's warehouse workers," the report reads.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the report "draws sweeping and inaccurate conclusions based on unverified anecdotes, and it misrepresents documents that are several years old and contained factual errors and faulty analysis."

Amazon pushed back on a claim in the report that said it was "not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods," for instance.

The report is further evidence that working in Amazon's warehouses can come with risks for employees.

A 2022 investigation by BI, for instance, found that Amazon warehouse workers were more likely to develop musculoskeletal injuries than their counterparts at similar facilities not owned by Amazon, based on data from Washington state.

Last month, regulators in California fined Amazon for undisclosed quotas that the regulators said "workers to increased pressure to work faster and can lead to higher injury rates."

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