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Amazon warehouses have been hit by more than 600 “serious injuries or near misses” in the past three years, a GMB investigation has found.
According to the union, the figures are the result of Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by GMB to local authorities across the UK.
GMB said that between 2016/17 and 2018/19, a total of 622 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
For workplace injuries to be reported to the HSE, they must be “severe enough” to prevent someone from performing their usual work duties for at least seven days, or be from a specified list of injuries that includes fractures, amputation, crushing, scalping and burning.
Mick Rix, GMB national officer, said: “Amazon are spending millions on PR campaigns trying to persuade people its warehouses are great places to work. But the facts are there for all to see -things are getting worse.
“Hundreds of stricken Amazon workers are needing urgent medical attention. Conditions are hellish. We’ve tried over and over again to get Amazon to talk to us to try and improve safety for workers. But enough is enough – it’s now time for a full parliamentary inquiry.”
However, an Amazon spokesperson told Retail Sector: “Amazon is a safe place to work. Yet again, our critics seem determined to paint a false picture of what it’s like to work for Amazon. They repeat the same sensationalised allegations time and time again.
“Our doors are open to the public, to politicians, and indeed to anyone who truly wants to see the modern, innovative and, most importantly, safe environment we provide to our people.”
They added: “The fact is we benchmark against UK national data, published by the Health and Safety Executive, confirming we have over 40% fewer injuries on average than other transportation and warehousing businesses in the UK.”
It comes after a previous investigation by GMB in 2019 into Amazon warehouse working conditions, which found “terrible conditions” and poor treatment of workers.
A series of Freedom of Information Requests submitted to ambulance services across the UK found that ambulances had been called out 600 times to 14 Amazon warehouses in the previous three financial years. In more than half of those cases patients were taken to hospital.
GMB said in a statement at the time that during the past three years at Amazon’s Rugeley site in Staffordshire, ambulances were called 115 times, including three for women due to pregnancy/maternity and three for major trauma. Other examples include electrocution, unconsciousness, the building being on fire and chest pains.
