Aug 19, 2024 10:36:00

Amazon's UK warehouse has seen more than 1,400 ambulance calls in five years

Amazon warehouses have been repeatedly reported to have poor working conditions and

higher injury rates for Amazon warehouse workers than its competitors , and a new study has found that ambulances were called out more than 1,400 times at Amazon warehouses in the UK between 2019 and 2023.

Ambulances called to Amazon's UK warehouses 1,400 times in five years | Amazon | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/17/ambulances-called-to-amazons-uk-warehouses-1400-times-in-five-years

Amazon has warehouses across the UK in locations including Dunfermline, Bristol, Mansfield, Bolton, Chesterfield, Rugeley and London.

Between 2019 and 2024, the Amazon warehouses in Dunfermline and Bristol had the most ambulance calls, with 161 and 125 calls, respectively. About a third of the calls from the Amazon warehouse in Dunfermline were related to 'chest pain,' with other calls also being for convulsions, strokes and breathing difficulties.

The Amazon warehouse in Mansfield also received 84 calls for service during the period, more than 70% of which were for Category 1 or Category 2 medical conditions, which are often associated with life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and strokes. Additionally, ambulances were also called for for workers suffering miscarriages during shifts, inhaling acid or toxic gases, suffering serious electrical shocks, and suffering from severe burns.

'The number of ambulance calls of more than 1,400 is shocking, but not surprising,' said Amanda Gearing, an organizer at the General Municipal Union (GMB), one of the UK's largest trade unions. 'Amazon workers are routinely pushed beyond the limits of human endurance,' she said. 'The actual number of injuries and illnesses at Amazon warehouses is likely even higher. Amazon warehouses regularly discourage ambulance requests or ask workers to take a taxi to the hospital instead.'

In contrast, the number of ambulance calls at competitors' warehouses is very low, with an investigation by foreign media outlet Vice

reporting that warehouses such as Boohoo , Missguided and Pretty Little Thing received fewer than 10 ambulance calls per year.

And a Tesco warehouse in Rugeley recorded just eight emergency services being called out in the three years between 2015 and 2017, while an Amazon warehouse in the area had 115 calls for help in that same period. Both warehouses employ more than 1,300 people.

Martha Dark, director of the nonprofit organization Foxglove, said, 'We are witnessing how dangerous it is to work at Amazon. It is unacceptable that so many workers should be taken to the hospital just for doing their job, highlighting Amazon's failure to take proper health and safety measures.' Meanwhile, an Amazon spokesperson said, 'We strongly refute the suggestion that working at Amazon is 'dangerous.' As a responsible employer, we would certainly call an ambulance if someone needed emergency medical treatment.' She added, 'We encourage anyone who wants to understand the truth to take a tour of an Amazon fulfillment center and see the working conditions for themselves.'