The new Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
investigations are putting fresh scrutiny on Amazon's injury rates and
workplace-safety procedures, which have long been criticized by labor and
safety advocates as inadequate.
Department of Labor spokesperson Denisha Braxton confirmed
Thursday that the most-recent fatality took place last week at an Amazon
facility in Monroe Township, about 20 miles (35 kilometers) northeast of
Trenton. The second probe is looking into a July 24 accident at an Amazon
facility in Robbinsville. The worker involved in that accident died three days
later, according to Braxton.
In a statement, Robbinsville Police Chief Michael Polaski
said police responded to the warehouse, called PNE5, on July 24 after receiving
a report that a worker fell from a three-foot (one-meter) ladder and struck his
head.
Polaski said the worker was conscious and alert when police
arrived. But police were told CPR was conducted on the person by other workers
prior to their arrival, he said. The person was transported to a hospital and
OSHA was notified of the incident on the same day, he added.
Police in Monroe Township didn't immediately reply for a
request for comment on the incident there.
The two most recent deaths were first reported by the USA
Today Network.
OSHA officials declined to provide additional information
about any of the deaths, citing the open investigations. The agency has up to
six month to complete each probe.
Sam Stephenson, a spokesperson for Seattle-based Amazon,
said in a statement the company was “deeply saddened by the passing of our
colleagues and offer our condolences to their family and friends.”
“Our investigations are ongoing and we're cooperating with
OSHA, which is conducting its own reviews of the events, as it often does in
these situations,” Stephenson said.
Last month, OSHA launched another investigation into a
worker fatality at an Amazon warehouse in the New Jersey town of Carteret during
the company's Prime Day shopping event, which turned out to be the biggest in
the company's history. Federal officials haven't released additional details
about the death, but news reports have identified the worker as 42-year-old
Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias.
A spokesperson for Amazon said the company's internal
investigation into the Carteret death shows it “was not a work-related
incident, and instead was related to a personal medical condition.”
“OSHA is currently investigating the incident, and, based
upon the evidence currently available to us, we fully expect that it will reach
the same conclusion,” the spokesperson said.
News of the deaths comes amid broader scrutiny into the
company's operations. In late July, OSHA officials inspected Amazon facilities
in New York, Illinois and Florida after receiving referrals alleging health and
safety violations from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
New York.
The civil division of the U.S. attorney's office is also
investigating safety hazards at Amazon warehouses and “fraudulent conduct
designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others," according to a
spokesperson for the office.
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