The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found an Amazon fulfillment center exposed workers to ergonomic hazards. In response to a complaint, OSHA investigators opened an investigation in January 2023 and found the company was exposing employees to ergonomic hazards capable of causing serious physical harm.
Inspectors found Amazon required employees to perform tasks leading to bodily stress that had caused, were causing and were likely to cause musculoskeletal disorders. These findings led OSHA to issue a citation for particular ergonomic hazards and propose $15,625 in penalties, and also issue a Hazard Alert Letter regarding additional ergonomic hazards.
During its investigation, OSHA also learned that Amazon had failed to use established controls to ensure that injured employees received proper medical care. The agency issued a second Hazard Alert Letter for this medical treatment failure, a concern found in other Amazon facilities in Deltona, Florida, in January 2023 and Castleton, New York, in April 2023.
Currently, the department has 18 open federal inspections at Amazon locations in the U.S.