Amazon Prime Day 'major cause of injury' for warehouse staff: report

Amazon's total injury rate during its Prime Day event in 2019 affected nearly half of its warehouse workers, according to preliminary findings of a US Senate probe, which also accused the e-commerce giant of "medical mismanagement."

The US Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released its findings ahead of Amazon's Prime Day 2024, looking into the e-commerce's workplace safety data for the event in 2019.

"The event is a major source of revenue for the company… But Prime Day is also a major cause of injuries for the warehouse workers who make it possible," the probe's findings read.

It found that Amazon's rate of recordable injuries, or the ones that it is required to disclose to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was over 10 injuries per 100 workers.

"That rate is more than double the industry average," the report read.

The findings also released for the first time the internal Amazon data on its total injury rate, which includes those that the e-commerce giant is not required to disclose. The rate was just under 45 injuries per 100 workers.

“That is almost half of the company's warehouse workers," the findings read.

Total injury rate data

According to the findings, Amazon's total injury rate included serious injuries that  should have counted as recordable injuries.

"This is due both to Amazon's practice of failing to refer workers for outside medical care and the company's troubling history of under-recording injuries as required by federal and state regulations," the report read.

It accused Amazon of providing first aid and sending back to work injured employees instead of making them see a doctor.

"It appears that Amazon is manipulating these regulations to keep its recordable injury rate low by engaging in medical mismanagement," the report alleged.

It further noted that Amazon has acknowledged the workplace risks during its peak periods, but workers told the committee the company has "not taken the steps necessary to ensure" sufficient staffing during high-volume periods.

Amazon: ‘Sweeping and inaccurate conclusions’

In response, a representative from Amazon disputed the findings made in the report.

"It 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 spokesperson Kelly Nantel told CNBC. "For example, one of the false claims in the report implies that we're not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods."

According to Nantel, Amazon has reduced its incident rate for anything requiring more than basic first aid by 28% in the US since 2019.

Lost time incident rate, which includes significant injuries that require an employee to miss at least a day of work, was also cut down by 75%, the spokesperson added.

'Perfect example of corporate greed'

But Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the HELP Committee, slammed the dangerous working practices at Amazon as the "perfect example of the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of."

"Despite making $36 billion in profits last year and providing its CEO with over $275 million in compensation over the past three years, Amazon continues to treat its workers as disposable and with complete contempt for their safety and wellbeing," Sanders said in a statement.

"That is unacceptable and that has got to change. Amazon must be held accountable for the horrendous working conditions at its warehouses and substantially reduce its injury rates."

In response, a representative from Amazon disputed the findings made in the report.

"It 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 spokesperson Kelly Nantel told CNBC. "For example, one of the false claims in the report implies that we're not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods."

According to Nantel, Amazon has reduced its incident rate for anything requiring more than basic first aid by 28% in the US since 2019.

Lost time incident rate, which includes significant injuries that require an employee to miss at least a day of work, was also cut down by 75%, the spokesperson added.