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Dozens of Amazon workers in the UK have suffered serious injuries in recent years, including being blinded or needing to be cut off, according to new data leading to renewed calls for the e-commerce giant to improve the treatment of vulnerable workers.
The $2.4 billion Big Tech group and related entities reported 119 serious injuries due to work-related accidents in the country's health and safety administration between 2019 and 2024, according to a response to a UK Freedom of Information request filed by the Financial Times.
Figures reveal that Amazon workers have broken 106 bones, lost consciousness eight times, at least three fingers were amputated and two eyes were blinded.
Their casualty roles include resource and coordination partners, service operators, engineering trainees and safety coordinators.
The company, which employs around 75,000 people in the UK, appears to be below the estimated rate of non-fatal injuries at work, which was 1,890 per 100,000 workers in 2023/24, according to Health and Safety UK. .
Founder Jeff Bezos promised by 2021 that the company would “be the best employer in the world and the safest place to work in the world”.
However, union leaders have also raised concerns about Amazon's safety record. Stuart Richards, a senior organizer at the GMB, who earlier this year tried to force the group to recognizing the union in the UK for the first timehe said the new injury data “revealed a deep catalog of issues”.
Richards added that “it's time for Amazon management to take the health and safety of their employees seriously”.
Amazon said that using figures provided by the HSE “to suggest that our workplace is dangerous is completely incorrect – the opposite is true”. It added that the company in 2022 “had 50 percent fewer injuries than the rest of the transport and warehouse sector” when injury rates were compared to national data.
Injury data released in a freedom of information request by the FT shows the rate of serious injuries in its network is the lowest in six years while the number of its employees has doubled in the same period, Amazon said.
However, the figures for 2024 do not cover the entire year, such as the Christmas holiday season, which is one of the busiest trading periods.
“We're proud of the place we work, and we encourage everyone to visit one of our locations and experience firsthand the safe, modern workplace we provide,” Amazon added.
Employers, and other people responsible for workplaces, must report so-called “specified injuries” due to work-related hazards to the HSE. The occupational status of those with reported injuries includes workers, self-employed and those employed by others.
Amazon also reported five diagnoses of occupational diseases at the same time, including tendonitis, dermatitis and disease caused by occupational exposure to biological agents. But the Seattle-headquartered company has not reported any deaths from work-related accidents in the past six years in the UK, the HSE's response said.
Martha Dark, associate director at Foxglove, the technology campaign group, said some workers at Amazon's UK business were “seriously hurt”.
He added that “evidence from the US has shown the speed of work that Amazon demands of its workers – especially in robotic warehouses – is a major driver of injuries at work and forces workers to work faster than is safe”.
Amazon said that “robots help reduce injuries,” as they reduce the need for workers to perform repetitive or difficult tasks, and the company has allocated $750mn to improve workplace safety this year. “Safety is an important area where robots make a big difference,” he added.
The GMB's Richards said he was “concerned that official statistics only tell part of the story”, as the union heard of cases where accidents and injuries were “not dealt with properly” and workers were “taxed home rather than taken home”. he is sent to the hospital by ambulance”.
Amazon said in response: “Don't be fooled, we will always call an ambulance when our co-workers need one in an emergency, whether it's a work-related or non-work-related incident.” Yes, taxis were used to take workers home or to the hospital, but is that the right thing to do?”
The HSE in a statement said that “the majority of work-related incidents in Amazon's warehouses take place in fulfillment areas, which are controlled by local authorities” and that the regulator “will take action” where it finds violations of health and safety laws in the workplace. fall under its influence.
Data visualization by Jana Tauschinski