The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ambulances called for ill and injured Amazon staff
retail: Online shopping giant says health and safety of its staff is ‘top priority’
Ambulance crews are called to treat sick and injured workers at Scotland’s Amazon bases nearly once a week.
The medical call-outs were revealed on the busiest weekend of the year for workers at the Us-based retail giant.
Last week’s Black Friday and today’s Cyber Monday saw Amazon workers – known as associates – dealing with a flood of orders as bosses predict a record-breaking year for internet Christmas shopping.
Thousands of extra temporary staff have been drafted in to cope with workers regularly walking up to 15 miles a day during a shift to get orders ready.
But insiders say the ambulance callouts reveal workers struggling to cope with the pressure of mounting workloads.
Amazon bosses have defended its practices saying the number of call-outs – including 999 emergencies – is small compared to the size of its workforce.
The Sunday Post revealed Amazon’s fulfilment centres in Dunfermline and Gourock have seen hundreds of calls to emergency services in the last three years. Workers have been treated for suspected strokes, convulsions, chest pains, falls and cuts.
In 2016, the last full year of records, the Scottish Ambulance Service sent out emergency crews 43 times to the warehouse in Dunfermline.
The emergency call-outs included 15 of the most serious classification Category A calls, with 23 staff members taken to nearby hospitals. Those 999 calls included two workers treated for falls, a call regarding “traumatic injuries” and two calls for help after “industrial accidents”.
This year, with records only going up to October and not taking account of Amazon’s peak period, paramedics have been called 13 times with nine workers taken to hospital from the distribution centre. Those call-outs include staff falling unconscious, suffering chest pains and convulsions.
A spokesman for Amazon said: “The health and safety of our associates is an absolute top priority.
“Independent health and safety experts review our processes and certify our compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
“We have 41% fewer injuries than other companies conducting warehousing activities in the UK, based on the latest available HSE RIDDOR reporting data.
“Because we prioritise the safety of our associates, we seek medical advice and if necessary call ambulance services if an individual is injured at work or is unwell with a condition unrelated to their work.
“The number of times this has occurred is small when compared to the hundreds of thousands of days worked in our fulfilment centres each year by more than 5,000 people at our busiest times, and the figures have declined in the past year.”