Over the past five years, ambulances have been called to Amazon warehouses more than 1,400 times. Observer The figures, which the GMB union described as “shocking”, raise fresh questions about safety in the US giant’s workplaces in the UK.
Amazon’s Dunfermline and Bristol hubs had the highest number of ambulance callouts in Britain, with 161 and 125 during the period respectively.
A third of Scottish Ambulance Service calls to Amazon’s Dunfermline site were related to chest pains, with other calls recorded for seizures, strokes and breathing problems.
Since 2019, ambulances have been called to Amazon Mansfield 84 times. More than 70% of these were for the most serious types of incidents, known as Category 1 and 2, which can often involve life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks or strokes.
Suicide attempts or other serious psychiatric incidents have been reported at Amazon sites in Bolton, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Rugeley, London and many others.
Incidents involving pregnancies or miscarriages of workers on duty, as well as traumatic injuries and suspected heart attacks, were also reported at several locations. Other incidents included workers being exposed to dangerous acids and gases, suffering severe electrocutions or serious burns to a major part of their body.
He Observer The information was gathered through Freedom of Information requests submitted to 12 ambulance services. While the information related to more than 30 Amazon sites, ambulance services did not record full data for a significant number of the sites in question, meaning the figures are likely to be an underestimate.
That included a warehouse in Coventry where Amazon workers and GMB union members narrowly lost a pivotal vote on union recognition by 29 votes in July, amid allegations of bullying by the logistics giant.
Amanda Gearing, a GMB organiser involved in that initiative, said the figures were “shocking but not surprising” and called on local authorities and the Health and Safety Directorate to investigate the company’s working practices. “Amazon workers are systematically pushed beyond the limits of human endurance,” she said. “They are forced to work for a hidden objective that is not based on safe work, but on a safety objective.” The Hunger Games algorithm.”
“Even these worrying numbers may obscure just how common injuries and illnesses are at Amazon. We know from our members in Amazon warehouses that first responders are actively discouraged from calling ambulances and are instead told to take taxis,” he said.
The number of incidents reported at Amazon fulfillment centers and warehouses appears to be higher than the figures reported for major fast-fashion retailers.
In A vice investigation Before the pandemic, stores owned by brands such as Boohoo, Missguided and Pretty Little Thing – described as “Victorian” by union officials – were recording 10 or fewer ambulance calls a year.
In 2018, a freedom of information request by the GMB union found that a Tesco warehouse in Rugeley, near Birmingham, recorded just eight ambulance calls in three years, compared with 115 at a nearby Amazon site. Both warehouses employed large numbers of workers at the time – 1,300 at the Tesco site and around 1,800 at Amazon’s.
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“Once again, we see how dangerous it is to work at Amazon,” said Martha Dark, director of Foxglove, a nonprofit that supports Amazon workers. “The fact that so many workers are transported in ambulances just for doing their jobs is unacceptable and highlights Amazon’s disregard for proper health and safety.”
An Amazon spokesperson said it “strongly rejects the suggestion that it is ‘dangerous’ to work for Amazon. Safety is always the absolute priority.” They also denied GMB’s claim that ambulances were sometimes not called: “As a responsible employer, we will always call an ambulance if someone needs emergency medical attention.”
The spokesman said the figures were misleading, citing the huge size of Amazon’s workforce and the fact it records, in its self-reported data, 50% fewer injuries with the HSE on average than other transport and warehousing companies.
They added that the “vast majority” of ambulance calls were related to “pre-existing conditions, not work-related incidents” and that Amazon “will always call an ambulance if someone requires medical attention.”
“We encourage anyone who wants to understand the truth to come and see for themselves by visiting an Amazon fulfillment center,” they said.
