Amazon warehouse in Shakopee fined by OSHA
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — The Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined a Shakopee Amazon facility $10,500 for worker safety hazards at a warehouse.
OSHA conducted an occupational safety inspection in October and issued two citations in April.
The first citation involved a new Minnesota law that went into effect last August, which requires warehouse distribution centers to communicate information about quotas and work-speed data to certain employees. The Amazon facility, however, was not providing a written copy of the quota to employees before they were expected to meet the requirement, OSHA said.
According to OSHA, Amazon was also failing to protect employees from ergonomic hazards while sorting, packaging and shipping products. OSHA launched an occupational safety and health program in January that is aimed at reducing the risk of workplace ergonomic injuries, and has been investigating sites and conducting employer outreach since then.
"It is important that work processes are designed with the goal of eliminating workplace injuries and that workers be informed of expectations that directly impact their safety and well-being," said Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach.
Amazon has contested both citations.
"There is nothing more important than our employees' health and safety, and we disagree with these citations and have appealed," said Sharyn Ghacham, an Amazon spokesperson. "Amazon's employee performance guidance at our operations facilities is based on safe and achievable expectations that take into account employee time and tenure, peer performance, and safe work practices. We follow all state and federal laws and do not have fixed quotas. Despite sharing this information and more with Minnesota OSHA during their investigation, they've chosen to issue a citation which reflects a lack of understanding of how we measure performance."
