OSHA says Amazon needs to improve severe weather safety after six died when tornado hit Edwardsville warehouse
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (CBS/AP) -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday said a downstate warehouse that collapsed in a tornado in December "met minimal federal safety guidelines for storm sheltering."
After investigating, OSHA found the possible lack of shelter-in-place drills, and no designated shelter area.
OSHA said Amazon needs to improve its severe weather procedures to protect its workers.
A company spokesperson said Amazon has "already begun conducting additional safety and emergency preparedness drills" at sites and will consider the agency's recommendations.
Six people died and another worker was critically wounded when a tornado hit the 1.1 million square-foot Edwardsville warehouse on Dec. 11.
The tornado struck at 8:27 p.m. that evening. Tornado warnings had been signaled by air raid sirens and push alerts between 8:06 and 8:16 p.m.
Of the 46 people inside, 39 made it to the north side of the building – where there was a shelter-in-place location. Seven others stayed on the south end, which was where all six people died and one was injured.
That was because on the south side of the building, there is no shelter in place location. So, why couldn't those seven make it north in those crucial minutes?
"A small handful, we speculate because of the work they were doing at the time they congregated on the south end of the facility," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in December. Amazon denied allegations that workers at this location aren't allowed to have cell phones on the job.
"Employees are allowed to have cell phone. There are rules about what they can do with those phones," Nantel said in December. "We do know often times employees put cell phones in their bags and not put on their person but there is no prohibition against it."
The company said that in those key minutes the night of the tornado, leaders used bullhorns to notify workers on the floor and radios to notify drivers heading toward the facility of the pending twister.
On Tuesday, Jack Casciato, a partner at the Clifford Law Offices representing a delivery driver who died in the warehouse collapse, said the law office is investigating itself.
"It is OSHA's duty as mandated by Congress to set standards that relate to the implementation of safe work practices, and it's clear from today's letter that Amazon was deficient in several areas, as indicated in the OSHA letter to Amazon," Casciato said in a news release.
Casicato is representing 26-year-old Austin McEwen, whose parents accuse Amazon of putting profits over safety and also accuse the company of failing to protect its employees in the new lawsuit.
McEwen drove for Amazon as an independent contractor. He was 26.
"Amazon knew a tornado was coming, but made the decision to have our son and others work during a peak delivery season for Amazon instead of evacuating the area," Alice McEwen said in January.
The Clifford Law Offices claims McEwen was directed to take shelter in a restroom with five others when the concrete structure collapsed and killed them all.
"Amazon still has not explained why workers were on production lines during what Amazon calls a 'peak delivery season' when there were warnings ample time before the tornado struck of a 70 percent chance of one or more tornados. Worker safety should take precedence over delivery of holiday packages," Casciato said in the release Tuesday. "The fact that Amazon runs a facility in 'tornado alley' and that OSHA identified workers who were unsure where to go during a tornado and that emergency plans were not specified for this facility is a major issue. Amazon, of all companies, had the means to right these wrongs pre-collapse."