The Occupational Safety and Health Administration this week issued its seventh citation against Amazon.com Inc. since January.
According to the citation against an Amazon
AMZN,
delivery station in Colorado Springs, Colo., the company exposed workers to ergonomic hazards that were “likely to cause” musculoskeletal disorders. Some workers were required to reach, twist and bend while repeatedly lifting packages… at a high frequency, placing them at risk for lower back injuries,” said the citation, which was issued Thursday.
The hazards mentioned are similar to those in the citations OSHA issued to six other Amazon warehouse locations around the nation at two different times earlier this year, which worker advocates call precedent-setting and historic.
“We continue to find that Amazon’s work processes are designed for speed, not safety, and that these processes cause serious injuries to workers,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker in a statement.
See: Amazon cited for warehouse working conditions ‘designed for speed but not safety’
Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel said Friday that the company has cooperated with OSHA. “We take the safety and health of our employees very seriously, and we don’t believe the government’s allegations reflect the reality of safety at our sites,” Vogel said.
Amazon faces $15,625 in penalties for the violations, which OSHA said in its announcement is set by federal statute. It has 15 business days to comply with the corrections OSHA is asking it to make, which include job rotations, giving workers more breaks and making engineering improvement; request a conference with OSHA’s area director; or contest the findings.
The company intends to appeal this citation, like all the others it has received this year.
