Amazon Worker Injury Rates
Amazon is an enormous conglomerate that employs over 1.5 million people as of 2024. Unfortunately, Amazon has a reputation for being an unsafe place to work, with workers getting injured on the job at an alarming rate. If you suffer serious injuries while working for Amazon, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
How Common Are Amazon Worker Injuries?
According to Amazon’s safety report, published in March 2024, its worker injury rates decreased from 2022 to 2023. However, the data still showed that Amazon’s worker injury rates are the highest in the industry. Amazon workers are at a disproportionately high risk of injuries compared to other companies in the warehousing industry.
In 2023, Amazon’s injury rate was triple that of Walmart – a comparable U.S. warehouse employer. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) report based on the same data published by Amazon concluded that Amazon’s injury rate was 6.5 per 100 employees – 71 percent higher than the injury rate (3.8) of all other non-Amazon warehouses with over 1,000 employees.
Worker Injuries at Amazon Warehouses
In 2023, the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois Chicago released a report monitoring injury rates specifically at Amazon warehouses. This report found a startling injury rate of 41 percent in 451 warehouses across 42 states. The injury rate among workers who had been at the Amazon warehouse for at least three years was even higher – 51 percent.
In addition, more than two-thirds of workers surveyed (69 percent) had to take unpaid time off of work due to pain or exhaustion caused by their jobs; 34 percent had to do so three or more times. Pressure to work faster increased both the rate of burnout (78 percent) and injury (53 percent) among Amazon warehouse workers.
Top Types of Amazon Worker Injuries
Amazon workers in warehouses and on the road as delivery drivers are subject to many different types of potential accidents. Common examples include:
- Slip, trip and fall accidents
- Forklift and other machinery accidents
- Struck-by objects falling from shelves
- Speed-related injuries from pressure to work fast
- Amazon delivery driver traffic accidents
Amazon work conditions can lead to various worker injuries, such as:
- Repetitive motion and strain injuries
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Back injuries
- Herniated disks
- Soft-tissue injuries
- Muscle tears and strains
- Broken bones
- Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Exhaustion
- Cuts and lacerations
Despite Amazon introducing measures to improve ergonomics and employee safety, workers continue to encounter challenges and suffer an abnormally high rate of injury on the job.
What Can an Injured Amazon Worker Do?
If an Amazon worker gets injured on the job, he or she can seek financial compensation to help pay for medical bills and replace lost wages by filing a workers’ compensation claim. This should be done after immediately reporting the accident and injury to a supervisor and seeking professional medical care.
After documenting the accident, if a worker believes that someone’s negligence or failure to exercise proper care contributed to the workplace injury, he or she may be eligible to file a work injury claim against Amazon, a contractor, an equipment manufacturer or another party. Seeking help from a Los Angeles work injury lawyer to file a lawsuit could result in a greater financial recovery than a workers’ compensation claim alone.
If you’ve recently been injured as an Amazon worker in California, contact Rose, Klein & Marias LLP for a free consultation about your legal rights and options.