Amazon avoids OSHA citations and fines in Edwardsville warehouse collapse

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I'm posting this in light of the thread in LBN about the incident. An earlier post I made was inadequate.

TOPICAL TOP STORY

Amazon avoids OSHA citations and fines in Edwardsville warehouse collapse

Katie Kull 20 hrs ago

EDWARDSVILLE — Some workers at an Amazon warehouse here that partly collapsed during a tornado in December didn’t remember participating in tornado drills, and others didn’t know where to take cover in an emergency, according to a federal investigation released Tuesday.

In letters sent to Amazon and three contract employers, officials with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, outlined how workers were warned to take cover 10 minutes before a tornado touched down, ripping through the southern half of the building and killing six people. ... But a megaphone, kept in the warehouse to prompt people to take shelter, was locked in a cage and not accessible that night. Instead, managers walked through the 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse and told people to take cover, according to the letter.

And some employees didn’t know that only the northern bathroom was a tornado shelter, so they headed to the restroom on the southern end instead. As the twister reached the building, walls on the southern half of the warehouse collapsed. Five people died there and one was injured.

Still, OSHA found the company’s severe weather policies met federal guidelines and the agency issued no fines or citations. Instead, officials recommended Amazon and three contractors who helped staff the warehouse — AB&C D.A.D. Inc., Xseed Delivery and Boxify Logistics — to take stock of their emergency plans and update OSHA on their progress.

{snip}

By Katie Kull
Katie Kull covers public safety for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She previously wrote about local government for the Springfield News-Leader. In her spare time, you can find her cooking, riding horses or spending time outdoors.
https://twitter.com/KatieKull1
[e-mail]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. US Department of Labor calls on Amazon to improve severe weather emergency procedures

OSHA News Release - Region 5
U.S. Department of Labor
April 26, 2022

US Department of Labor calls on Amazon to improve severe weather emergency procedures following warehouse collapse

Dec. 10, 2021, tornado fatally injured 6 contractors sheltering in place in Illinois warehouse

EDWARDSVILLE, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a Hazard Alert Letter to Amazon, requiring the online retailer to review its severe weather emergency procedures after six contractors were fatally injured and another severely injured when a tornado struck Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse on Dec. 10, 2021.

OSHA investigators determined that while Amazon’s severe weather emergency procedures met minimal federal safety guidelines for storm sheltering, the company should make improvements to further protect workers and contract drivers in future emergencies. OSHA does not have a standard that requires severe weather emergency plans but recommends them under the Occupational and Safety Health Act’s General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide a place of employment free from known hazards.

“These tragic deaths have sparked discussions nationwide on the vital need for comprehensive workplace emergency plans,” said OSHA’s Regional Administrator William Donovan, in Chicago. “Employers should re-evaluate their emergency plans for the safest shelter-in-place locations and prepare before an emergency to ensure workers know where to go and how to keep themselves safe in the event of a disaster.”

OSHA’s Hazard Alert Letter recommends three areas for improvement at the Edwardsville warehouse:

• Ensure that all employees are provided training and participate in emergency weather drills.
• Include site-specific information in severe weather emergency plans.
• All audible warning devices and locations of the device should be clearly identified in the severe weather emergency plan and readily accessible.

Five of the deceased and the injured worker were independent direct service provider delivery contractors that took shelter in a bathroom on the warehouse’s south side, near the loading docks. Two worked for AB&C D.A.D Inc. of Belleville, one for Boxify Logistics of St. Louis. XSeed Delivery of Bolingbrook employed two of the other deceased workers and the injured worker. The three direct service providers will also receive hazard alert letters from OSHA encouraging them to review severe weather procedures for their drivers. The sixth worker fatally injured was employed by CBRE of Seattle as an in-house contractor assigned to the Edwardsville facility.

Learn more about how to prepare for weather-related emergencies.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Scott Allen, 312-353-4727, [e-mail]
Rhonda Burke, 312-353-4807, [e-mail]

Release Number: 22-599-NAT

[2naSalit]

2. Amazon...

It's against my religion.