Dozens of UK Amazon workers suffer serious injuries leading to union anger

Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

FT Editor Roula Khalaf picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Dozens of Amazon workers in the UK have suffered serious injuries, including going blind or requiring amputation, in recent years, new data shows; This has led to renewed calls for the e-commerce giant to improve the treatment of vulnerable staff.

The $2.4 trillion Big Tech group and related organizations say 119 serious injuries due to work accidents have been reported to the country’s workplace health and safety regulator between 2019 and 2024, according to a response to a UK Freedom of Information request submitted by the Financial Times.

Figures reveal Amazon workers suffered 106 bone fractures, lost consciousness eight times, had at least three fingers amputated and were blind in both eyes.

The roles of those injured included warehouse and sorting clerks, delivery drivers, engineering apprentices and a security coordinator.

According to the UK Health and Safety Executive, the estimated average rate of non-fatal injuries in the workplace is 1,890 per 100,000 workers in 2023/24.

But the figures, obtained through freedom of information on Amazon, only cover “specified injuries”, which are limited to certain serious cases, rather than all non-fatal injuries.

Amazon said using figures provided by the HSE “to suggest that our workplace is dangerous is completely wrong, the truth is just the opposite”. The report added that when injury rates were compared to national data, the company had “50 percent fewer injuries than the rest of the transportation and warehousing industry” in 2022.

Founder Jeff Bezos has promised that by 2021 the company will be “the world’s best employer and safest place to work.”

But union leaders have repeatedly voiced concerns about Amazon’s safety record. Stuart Richards, a senior GMB promoter, put the group in hot water earlier this year. A union was recognized for the first time in the UKHe said the new injury data “reveals a serious catalog of problems.”

“It’s time for Amazon bosses to take the health and safety of their workforce seriously,” Richards added.

Amazon said injury data released in a freedom of information request to the FT showed the rate of serious injuries across its network was at a six-year low and the number of employees had more than doubled in the same period.

However, the figures for 2024 do not cover the entire year, such as the Christmas holiday period, which is one of the busiest periods of trade.

“We are proud of our work environment and encourage everyone to tour one of our facilities and see firsthand the safe, modern workplace we provide,” Amazon added.

Employers and others responsible for workplaces are required to report certain injuries resulting from work accidents to the HSE. The employment status of people with reported injuries included employees, self-employed, and those employed by others.

Amazon also reported five occupational disease diagnoses during the same period, including tendonitis, dermatitis and an illness caused by exposure to occupational biological agents. However, according to the HSE’s response, the Seattle-based company has not reported any deaths due to work accidents in the UK in the last six years.

Some workers at Amazon’s UK business were “seriously injured”, said Martha Dark, co-executive director of Foxglove, a technology campaign group.

“Evidence from the US has shown that the work speed Amazon demands of its employees – particularly in robotic warehouses – is a significant factor in causing workplace injuries, forcing workers to work faster than is safe,” he added.

Amazon has said that “robotics help reduce injuries” because it reduces the need for workers to perform repetitive or strenuous tasks, and the company has allocated $750 million this year to improve workplace safety. “Safety is a critical area where robotics makes a significant difference,” he added.

GMB’s Richards said the union was “concerned that official statistics only tell part of the story”, saying the union had heard of examples where accidents and injuries were “not dealt with appropriately” and workers were “sent home by taxi”. “He is being taken to the hospital by ambulance.”

In response, Amazon said: “Don’t be fooled, if our colleagues need an ambulance in an emergency, whether it’s a work or non-work incident, we will always call an ambulance. Yes, taxis are used to take staff home or to hospital, but is this absolutely the right thing to do?”

The HSE said in a statement that “the majority of work-related incidents at Amazon warehouses occur in supply centers controlled by local authorities” and that the regulator “will take action” if it detects breaches of health and safety laws in workplaces. falls within its scope of sanctions.

Data visualization by Jana Tauschinski