Amazon is reportedly installing new air conditioning equipment and additional fans at its EWR9 warehouse in Novel Jersey, according to a describe by NBC News. This comes after Reynaldo Mota Frias, a worker at the facility, died on July 13th, at some level of the High Day speed, on a day when temperatures rose to 92 levels. Amazon reportedly blames Frias’ death on “a personal medical condition” and denies reports that he counseled managers he was feeling ailing. An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or OSHA) is listed as ongoing.
Another employee at EWR9 counseled NBC that the warehouse gets hot, even in areas that have fans. The company has faced criticism from workers sooner than about the way it handles workloads at some level of the increasingly warm summers — last year, a few of the company’s warehouse workers in Kent, Washington said they had to work “energy hours” at some level of a historic heat wave in the region. Earlier this year, a letter from US lawmakers cited that incident whereas demanding answers from the company about its severe weather policies.
While it’s gentle unclear what if any role heat played in Frias’ death, Amazon doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it involves conserving its workers safe. Earlier this year, an advocacy group of workers published a describe claiming that the company’s warehouse workers were twice as seemingly to be injured than of us working similar jobs at other companies. And last month, OSHA reportedly expanded a nationwide investigation into workplace safety at the company, taking a seek into whether the pace it sets for its workers pushes them to act in unsafe ways. The US Attorney for the Southern District of Novel York says the investigation is also in search of to look at if the company has “appropriately reported on-the-job injuries” to executive agencies.
Amazon didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s attach a question to for comment on the air conditioning installation at EWR9, and whether it was taking similar measures at other facilities. Sam Stephenson, a spokesperson for the company, counseled NBC News that Amazon constantly measures temperatures in its facilities, and that it has safety teams that will “take action to address any temperature-related issues.”
According to NBC’s describe, management at EWR9 has responded to Frias’ death by handing out extra snacks and water, as well as posting charts meant to back workers decide whether they’re dehydrated based on the color of their urine. The later appears to be a relatively common piece of advice from the company — it was also referenced in a pamphlet leaked last summer season that was reportedly meant to back workers prepare for their lives as “industrial athletes.”
