Amazon accused of manipulating workers’ injury data, ignoring safety

A Senate investigation, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, has led to accusation that Amazon manipulated workplace injury data and ignored safety recommendations to prioritise profits.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions found Amazon warehouses reported injury rates 31% higher than industry averages in 2023 and nearly doubled since 2017. 

The report alleges Amazon misrepresents data by comparing injuries at all its warehouses to larger facilities with inherently higher rates, creating a misleading narrative.

It also uncovered that Amazon imposes strict productivity quotas despite public claims to the contrary, leading to unsafe working conditions. 

An internal initiative in 2020, “Project Soteria,” linked productivity speed to injuries, yet Amazon rejected changes to avoid slowing output.

Sanders condemned the findings, calling it “corporate greed” at the expense of worker safety. 

Amazon denies the allegations, calling the report “fundamentally flawed.”

Safety was among the reasons that workers at an Amazon facility in Staten Island chose to unionize in 2022.

California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office fined Amazon nearly $6 million for tens of thousands of violations of a California law aimed at curbing the use of worker quotas.