Amazon Ignored Internal Warnings on Injuries, Senate Probe Claims

• A congressional investigation into worker safety at Amazon released Sunday night found that the company manipulated data on warehouse worker injuries and disregarded internal research on improving safety.
• The report was released by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension, or HELP, Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
• The probe found that Amazon workplaces recorded 30% more injuries in 2023 than the warehousing industry average and that the company selectively uses statistics to hide the fact that its warehouses are significantly more dangerous than other companies’ facilities.
• “Sen. Sanders’ report is wrong on the facts and weaves together out-of-date documents and unverifiable anecdotes to create a preconceived narrative that he and his allies have been pushing for the past 18 months,” company spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post Sunday.
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Warehouse Safety Bill Awaits NY Governor Signature

• Labor advocates are pressing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that would require warehouses to develop plans to keep workers safe.
• The legislation seeks to address “ergonomic hazards” in warehouses, specifically situations that require a worker to assume an awkward posture, repeat a motion, or take inadequate breaks.
• The Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act would require warehouses to develop programs to mitigate ergonomic hazards. Under the bill, state-certified ergonomists, who focus on making workstations more comfortable and safe, would consult on the programs and perform annual workplace evaluations.
• A corporate lobbying group, called the Business Council, whose members include UPS and Amazon, have pressed Hochul to veto the legislation and is now seeking chapter amendments.
• The legislation was delivered to Hochul on Dec. 12 and she has 10 days to sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without signing it.
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OSHA Reviewing Need for Reports on Mechanical Power Press Injuries

• The need for reports to OSHA of injuries to employees operating mechanical power presses will be reviewed by the federal Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
• Currently, in the event that an employee is injured while operating a mechanical power press, employers are required to provide information to OSHA regarding the accident, including the type of safeguard(s) used, the cause of the accident, the means to actuate the press stroke, and the number of operators involved.
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Indiana Safety Conference Seeks to Build on Low Injury Momentum

• Indiana business leaders are planning a February conference to foster more training and information flow relating to safety in the workplace, seeking to build on the state’s logging the lowest rate of workplace injuries and illnesses in its history for 2022.
• The full-day “Building Indiana Safety Conference” is being planned for Feb. 4, under the sponsorship of the Northwest Indiana Business RoundTable.
• “The demand for more discussions and more collaboration is out there, so we wanted to bring together the decision-makers in Indiana business who can work together to create a cohesive plan to further safety in the workplace going forward,” said Andrea M. Pearman, president of Diversified Marketing Strategies, the parent company of Building Indiana.
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