A new report has issued scathing data on the lack of safety at Amazon warehouses and claims that Amazon workers are twice as likely to experience a serious injury then those who work at warehouses of similar size and capacity. These injuries, which occurred during 2021 may lead to a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim against Amazon and are a serious problem for the company who has pledged to be the “Earth’s safest place to work.”
The scathing report follows a bad year for Amazon which also led the pack in workplace injuries in 2020 and now again finds itself as the least safe place to work in 2021. Not only did injuries at Amazon warehouses far outpace the rest of the warehousing industry, they accounted for over half of all industry injuries throughout the course of the year.
All told, in 2021, Amazon warehouses reported 6.8 serious injuries for every 100 workers while the industry average was 3.3 serious injuries for every 100 workers in a non-Amazon warehouse. The total number of serious injuries reported in Amazon facilities was 38,300, which was an increase of 20% over the 27,100 injuries reported in 2020.
The company has reported that in 2021 it spent $300 million on worker safety programs and pointed to the fact that it had to hire many new employees as a result of the increase in demand during the global pandemic as reasons why these rates of injury were so high. It has also committed to making worker safety a priority in the months and years to come.
With at least a dozen warehouses currently in the state of Connecticut, many workers experience these kinds of dangerous working conditions daily. These serious injuries will no doubt be considered Connecticut workers’ compensation claims if they happen in any of the multiple Amazon warehouses in the state.
If you or a loved one are a worker at an Amazon facility or at any other warehouse in the state of Connecticut and you experience an injury at work, you may find it helpful to have a board certified attorney review your case for you. Contact our office and one of our attorneys will speak with you about protecting your long-term interests.
