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.

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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.

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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.
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