Safety violations letter

Three days after the email below was sent to HR, I was let go from a seasonal position at Amazon. So I decided to go public. I am sure there is going to be some mud slinging but I am not going to let anyone get hurt. On the other hand, it might make them clarify their position so that the people at my former work site are safe. Please read it all before making any comments.

To whom it may concern;

There are a few safety concerns here at Amazon that I feel should be addressed before someone is injured.

1) Mech lifts (100 pounds or more) are being performed by one person in order to make rates (even with a tip and slide when the package is on the floor the slammers still have to lift it enough to put it on their pallet.)

When an employee asks for help they are made to feel like they are bothering someone.

2) Team lifts are completely ignored. If the employee is expected to lift a package on their own it should be stated ahead of your hiring practice so someone can decide not to work at a bulk facility.

3) Stop signs on the floor are faded and starting to come apart. They need to be replaced. The Stowers also like to park items on top of them.

4) Your rates for pickers are too high and unsafe. If they ask for help every time they follow the supposed safety rules they would not make rates.

5) Your Stowers are building pallets too high and they are causing near misses.

6) The stats should not be a moving target. Managers telling employees that they are expected to double their rates from 24 to 40 or 50 is dangerous and promotes bad habits.

7) Leaving one person to work the floor while all the other employees are in standup across the building is unsafe and will delay emergency response times.

8) When employees ask about company policies the management says they don't know the answer.

9) Trainers are contradicting their safety standards. I was told by one trainer that you could not extend your forks and drive forward while picking. Another trainer said you could. Pickers are pulling out of a pallet and moving to their next pick with the forks on H level and lowering it as they drive through the warehouse.

10) The product is being stacked so high in the bulk area that they are starting to compress and lean in such a manner that it is unsafe to be around them and in some cases pick them.

11) Pickers are expected to climb into bins to pull an order. The product is forced into bins causing pickers to have to pull everything in it in order to find the right order.

12) Competition is good but trash talking other shifts and individual employees is unprofessional and demeaning. When done by associates it can be bad however when it is done by the people in charge it is unacceptable. It encourages unsafe competition and retaliation.

We need to know that safety standards are real and not just lip service.