Amazon Industry Spotlight: Workplace Safety

At Amazon, safety is integral to everything they do—every day, in every country, across their business. The company knows that to have a successful safety culture, everyone must embrace that safety starts with them. As a business, they are continuously enhancing their processes, programs, and technologies to create safer operations for their employees. Throughout Amazon’s warehouses and in their logistics network, over 9,000 health and safety professionals across the globe champion their innovations, programs, and initiatives.

Read on to hear how Amazon puts safety first

From Amazon

"Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) careers at Amazon have a wide span — from early career specialists to seasoned safety managers. For example, WHS Specialists are our front line of safety. They promote a safety excellence culture by raising awareness and engaging employees throughout the site to maintain a safe work environment. Onsite Medical Representatives (OMR), more than 90% of whom are trained emergency medical technicians, are one way we manage first aid needs at our sites. Injury Prevention Specialist (IPS) proactively analyze tasks for potential ergonomic risk factors, perform bio-mechanical assessments and lead injury prevention activities. WHS Managers partner with our Operations Team to execute company WHS policies and ensure compliance with all applicable local, regional, and federal regulations. Additionally, WHS Managers lead continuous improvement initiatives to ensure a safe, comfortable working environment for employees.'

Two workers in an Amazon warehouse are seen interacting. One worker is holding a handheld device and appears to be explaining or demonstrating something to the other worker.

"Amazon is continually introducing new technologies and improvements in safety equipment to decrease the risk of injury. These innovations can help raise the bar on safety across the industry. In the warehousing industry, one of the most important aspects of improving safety outcomes is reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)-such as strains, sprains, and lower back injuries-which are the leading cause of workplace injury across the transportation and warehousing industries. At Amazon, on site WHS leaders partner with our certified ergonomic engineers, robotic engineers, and external partners to pilot and implement innovations to reduce MSDs.'

"Another way we tackle risk is our heat and cold mitigation practices, which meet or exceed state requirements and federal guidance, and in many ways, go above and beyond to set more stringent standards for our sites. All of our North American fulfillment centers are climate-controlled workplaces. Industrial fans provide cooling comfort for work areas, and we also have air-conditioned crew vans at all of our Amazon Air hubs. We're continuously evaluating new ways to support our delivery partners during fluctuating weather conditions such as heat waves. For example, every vehicle bearing the Amazon brand is air conditioned-and if the air conditioning isn't working on a vehicle, that vehicle is taken out of service immediately.'

Two individuals wearing high-visibility safety vests are standing indoors. One person is holding a booklet and pointing at it, while the other person is looking at the booklet and holding it with gloved hands.

"As in many warehouse settings, our employees use powered industrial trucks to move pallets and other large items. Our goal is to reduce serious incidents involving powered industrial trucks to zero. By partnering with manufacturers to develop technology to improve safety, we are implementing collision-avoidance technology at various sites, which uses light detection and ranging, as well as a real-time locating system, to sense and avoid collisions and improve workplace safety. As recipients of the National Safety Council's Green Cross Award, we have been recognized for our innovative solutions to reduce injuries caused by powered industrial trucks."

RISE Up Learning

Consult your RISE Up curriculum and materials for further learning on retail loyalty programs.

Supply Chain, Inventory & Logistics

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHTS