Amazon workers were claiming that they weren't properly alerted of smoke on the third floor of the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse this past Friday. Workers on the third floor were told to clock out (unpaid) and evacuate while workers on other floors were left to continue working. It was documented that workers on the third floor evacuated around 1:30pm. Workers on the first floor didn't start seeing the smoke until hours later. They didn't evacuate until 5:45pm. Furthermore, employees had no notification from a fire alarm, managers, or their in-house systems.
When employees got outside, there was limited police and fire presence. Workers coming in for an overnight shift were told to go inside and begin working despite the presence of smoke in the building. According to Isaiah Thomas, an Amazon warehouse worker at this location, "Everyone was very confused, and the lack of information made us feel very unsafe...I don't know what I was breathing in for that long, and I don't know if it's still in the air at work today either."
The workers have since reported the incident to Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and "are awaiting further investigation". The smoke was most likely vaporized oil but we are unclear if it poses any health risks.
A spokesperson from Amazon is denying the workers claim that they were told to clock out and take unpaid voluntary time off (VTO). The fire department's investigation found no evidence of hazardous conditions in the warehouse so far.
The ethical dilemma being posed here is the safety of the workers vs keeping up with daily operations at Amazon. Amazon chose the latter option in this scenario. They didn't notify EVERYONE in the warehouse of the smoke. They only notified people on the third floor to evacuate because of their proximity to the problem. However, in unknown situations like this, you must evacuate the whole building and then figure out what the problem is. Workers on the first floor didn't find out until hours later. To go a bit deeper into this issue, we should look at Amazon's protocols for situations like this and their suggested course of action. I feel like this would give us a better idea of their solution to this ethical dilemma because workers health should be more important than a getting a package shipped.
Its bad that they forced people to work even though the building was potentially on FIRE, really shows how little scamazon cares about the health of their slaves.
ReplyDeleteYeah they should've at least gave them notice about the fire and evacuated until they figured out what was wrong.
DeleteI am not surprised by the lack of action and response by Amazon. This situation only adds to my negative perception of how Amazon has no regard for the basic safety of its workers.
ReplyDeleteIt's insane how much Amazon puts profits over the safety of their workers. I wonder what it will take to change their perspective?
DeleteThat is horrible. They should have evacuated everyone out of the building and once it was clear, then they could go back to work. There should be better safety procedures and protocols. The health of the workers in more important than the production of their services. Even if they run behind schedule, it is better than putting the workers at risk.
ReplyDeleteYeah these warehouses need better safety protocols asap!
DeleteI agree with Marcella, and I am not surprised with their response. Most of these types of companies worry more about meeting production quotas than their actual employees. The fact that some workers were told to clock out while other still had to remain working especially when they were all working in the same building is crazy. I would approach this type of situation by having all workers clear the building until it was inspected and deemed safe to reenter. The company could have made up the production quota by offering overtime, but why would they do that, it costs more money
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