Amazon to pay fine, continue to implement safety measures at Colorado warehouses to settle hazardous working condition claims

Amazon will pay $145,000 and continue to implement safety measures to settle a series of cases — including two in Colorado — brought by the U.S. Department of Labor over hazardous working conditions.

The federal investigation marks the first major multi-site probe brought by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in more than a decade, the agency said in a news release last month. OSHA’s investigation into ergonomic safety issues is unprecedented, experts say, due to a lack of established legal standard for this type of workplace danger.

The federal investigation, which began in summer 2022, alleged Amazon exposed warehouse workers to a high risk of lower-back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders. Employees at 10 warehouses — including facilities in Aurora and Colorado Springs — were subjected to awkward twisting, bending and extending themselves to lift items, a high frequency of lifting packages and long hours to complete assigned tasks.

“Workers face immense pressure to meet pace of work and production quotas at the risk of sustaining musculoskeletal injuries, which are often acute,” federal investigators wrote in a letter to Amazon in its Aurora citation.

OSHA in 2023 proposed fines against the e-commerce giant of $15,625 apiece for violations of ergonomic safety requirements at warehouses in Aurora and Colorado Springs. The department also proposed fines over similar complaints in New York, Florida, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Jersey.

As part of its agreement with Amazon, OSHA withdrew citations and fines for nine of the facilities, including the ones in Colorado. The company accepted the $145,000 penalty for violations at one Illinois warehouse.

“This corporate-wide settlement agreement focuses on improving conditions for several hundred thousand Amazon workers nationwide,” Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker said in a statement. “The agreement requires Amazon to assess ergonomic risk across its facilities, including through annual updates, and investigate and implement controls to reduce ergonomic risk. The ball is in the company’s court.”

The agreement will apply to all Amazon fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations and provides for an alternative dispute resolution process designed to address and correct ergonomic hazards brought up by Amazon workers.

The company agreed to meet every two years with federal officials to discuss data and elements of Amazon’s corporate ergonomic program.

“(The) agreement acknowledges our progress and notes that we should keep implementing and following our existing comprehensive ergonomics policies and procedures,” Amazon said in a statement. “There isn’t a claim of wrongdoing on Amazon’s part for the withdrawn citations, nor a directive to adopt new safety controls.”

Amazon contends the settlement agreement memorializes initiatives that the company was already doing.

Amazon still faces a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into whether the company engaged in a fraudulent scheme to hide its true injury rates at warehouses around the country.

The company, in a statement, said it believes the government’s legal theory “lacks merit.”