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Dozens of Amazon workers in the UK have suffered serious injuries in recent years, including going blind or needing amputations, according to new data that leads to renewed calls for the e-commerce giant to improve treatment of vulnerable employees.
The $2.4 trillion technology conglomerate and related entities reported 119 serious injuries due to work-related incidents to the country's workplace health and safety regulator between 2019 and 2024, according to a response to a UK freedom of information request submitted by the Financial Times.
The figures reveal that Amazon workers suffered 106 broken bones, lost consciousness on eight occasions, at least three fingers were amputated, and two eyes were blinded.
The roles of those affected included warehouse and sorting associates, delivery drivers, engineering interns, and a safety coordinator.
The company, which employs around 75,000 people in the UK, appears to have had a lower than average estimated rate of non-fatal workplace injuries, which was 1,890 per 100,000 workers in 2023/24, the health and safety executive said at UK. .
Founder Jeff Bezos pledged in 2021 that the company would “be the best employer on Earth and the safest place to work on Earth.”
However, union leaders have repeatedly raised concerns about Amazon's safety record. Stuart Richards, a senior GMB regulator, who earlier this year tried to force the group's hand A union is recognized in the UK for the first timeShe said the new infection data “revealed a serious list of issues.”
“It's time for Amazon bosses to take the health and safety of their workforce seriously,” Richards added.
Amazon said using figures provided by the HSE “to suggest our workplace is dangerous is grossly inaccurate – the reality is the opposite”. She added that in 2022 the company had “50 per cent fewer infections than the rest of the transportation and warehousing sector” when its infection rates were compared to national data.
Amazon said infection data released in a freedom of information request submitted by the Financial Times showed that the rate of serious infections across its network was at its lowest level in six years, while the number of its employees more than doubled during the same period.
However, the 2024 figures do not cover the entire year, such as the Christmas holiday period, which is among the busiest trading periods.
“We are proud of our work environment, and we encourage everyone to tour one of our locations and see first-hand the safe, modern workplace we offer,” Amazon added.
Employers and other people responsible for workplaces are required to report so-called “specified injuries” due to workplace accidents to the HSE. Work cases with reported injuries included employees, the self-employed, and those employed by others.
Amazon also reported five occupational disease diagnoses during the same period, including tendonitis, dermatitis and illness caused by occupational exposure to biological agents. But the Seattle-based company has not reported any deaths due to a work-related incident over the past six years in the UK, the HSE said in response.
Some workers at Amazon's UK business are “being seriously harmed”, said Martha Dark, co-executive director of Foxglove, a technology campaign group.
She added, “Evidence from the United States has shown that the pace of work that Amazon requires of its workers – especially in automated warehouses – is a major driver of workplace injury and forces workers to work faster than is safe.”
Amazon said that “robots help reduce injuries” because they reduce the need for employees to perform repetitive or arduous tasks, as the company allocated $750 million to improve workplace safety this year. “Safety is a critical area where robots make a big difference,” she added.
GMB's Richards said he was also “concerned that official statistics only tell part of the story”, as the union had heard of cases where “accidents and injuries were not treated appropriately” and workers were “sent home in taxis rather than being sent to… Hospital in an ambulance.
In response, Amazon said: “Don't be under any illusions, we will always call an ambulance when our colleagues need one in an emergency, whether it's a work-related or non-work-related accident. Yes, taxis have been used to take employees home or to the hospital, but This is definitely the right thing to do.
The HSE said in a statement that “most work-related incidents in Amazon warehouses occur in fulfillment centres, which are regulated by local authorities” and that the regulator “will take action” when it finds violations of the Health and Safety Act in workplaces under its implementation.
Data visualization by Jana Tauszynski
