Falsifying Safety Records

Amazon routinely hides safety problems in my building. Employees are forbidden to say on the work radio that there is a problem when somebody has an accident. The directive comes from the General Manager of site and is enforced by managers.

During latest inspection last year, information about accident-free time was changed from typical 1-2 days to 90 days. At the same time, employees were instructed by Safety Dept. to answer questions as required by Amazon. One of the key requirement was a provision that classification of accident is when one needs a physician's assistance. Practically, it means going through company's Fist Aid people, then local paramedic's office and eventually to a physician. By the time one needs a medical attention, it will take an hour at least.

The site also has a lot of construction going on. Support beams for conveyors are not secured against forklift hits and many have been partially destroyed by accident. Management forbade forklift operators to enter the area under chutes in the Shipping Dept. because it created danger. Finally, the whole block was put off limits due to safety concerns. At the present time, the chutes are being constructed despite obvious safety issues with the support beams damaged by forklifts.

Loading goods in Transshipment Area (tasked with sending goods to other Amazon places) creates a serious safety hazard for people. Forklifts are less than 20cm of working people when the regulations call for 2 m minimum distance while moving. The rule is routinely ignored by management due to the lack of space and pressure to deliver goods. Forklifts with pallets lifted about 1.5 m high routinely snick behind workers binding pallets with a tape because of blatant disregard for safety by the operators. Management is aware of the situation but has no choice but allow for such unsafe conditions.

During loading of trucks, the containers routinely have stability problems. In effect, the containers fall over either during shunting (short trip between loading dock and the storage area) or during loading when one of the support beams folds. The situation is known to the management and was actively promoted due to the pressure to perform. After a near-kill of the person in Yard by a blatant disregard for safety by the Yard Manager, the situation got attention of upper management. The Yard Manager was removed from his duties but was later reinstated for his eagerness to skip the safety and depart trucks quickly.

Any information about it is routinely kept under wraps for at least a day and the minimum details are released to the group of Shipping Dept. The procedure is approved by upper management and designed to make the company look good on paper. Details of potential misses or safety problems are routinely hidden by the Area Manager to "protect his people" and probably his job. Attempts to get the information by new and eager people is treated as a betrayal of loyalty of local area manager. The same falsification of problems is routinely performed during Key Safety Requirement (KSR) inspections with a verbal coaching by the Area Manager.