Amazon fulfillment centers with robots have experienced “significantly higher” rates of human injuries in the past four years than those without them, supporting the theory that automation can require humans to work at unsafe speeds, a new report finds.
That is one of several bombshells in an extensive investigation by journalist Will Evans and colleagues at Reveal, a publication of The Center for Investigative Reporting. The report is based on internal Amazon safety records showing weekly data on injuries from more than 150 Amazon warehouses from 2016 through 2019.
The investigation finds “a mounting injury crisis at Amazon warehouses, one that is especially acute at robotic facilities and during Prime week and the holiday peak – and one that Amazon has gone to great lengths to conceal.”
Interviews with employees and health care providers, detailed in the report, undermine assertions from Amazon executives that the company’s higher rates of injuries result from their diligent reporting. The report cites incidents in which workers were discouraged from reporting injuries and seeking medical attention, among other approaches that suppressed the injury rates.
The report identifies Amazon’s DuPont, Wash., fulfillment center as the most injury-prone, with 22 serious injuries for every 100 workers. The company has pointed to the DuPont facility as an example of the “perfect symbiosis” of humans and robots, as reported in the past by GeekWire and others.
Reveal’s report comes after Amazon announced plans this week to hold Prime Day in October. Reveal says the internal numbers dispute assertions from Amazon executives that injury rates do not rise around those peak times.
Amazon did not directly address Reveal’s findings in response to its questions. The company has not yet responded to our request for comment.
Read the full report, see the injury database, and listen to a related podcast.
