OSHA says that Amazon “exposed workers to ergonomic, struck-by hazards” in the location, putting them at “high risk for lower back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders.”Doug Parker, assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, laid part of the blame on the pace that Amazon sets for its warehouse employees.Last year, advocacy group The Strategic Organizing Center released a report saying that Amazon workers make up a disproportionately high percentage of all warehouse industry injuries in the US.Outside of the warehouse, a 2019 report from Buzzfeed and ProPublica accused the company of trading safety for speed in its delivery network, and that point was reiterated last year by the SOC.A statement from the activist group Athena Coalition quotes Daniel Olayiwola, an Amazon warehouse worker in San Antonio: “OSHA’s findings are a reflection of the experience of Amazon workers like me in warehouses all over the country.” Olayiwola says that workers have been “speaking out for years about the grueling pace of work and exploitative policies that directly cause burnout, severe stress on our bodies, and unsafe situations.”For its part, Amazon doesn’t agree with OSHA’s latest allegations.“We’ve cooperated fully, and the government’s allegations don’t reflect the reality of safety at our sites.” Nantel also cites an improvement in the company’s injury rates between 2019 and 2021 (a claim similar to one Amazon made in response to the 2022 SOC report) and says that “We look forward to sharing more during our appeal about the numerous safety innovations, process improvements, and investments we’re making to further reduce injuries.”According to OSHA, Amazon received citations for 14 record-keeping violations last year for “failing to record injuries and illnesses, misclassifying injuries and illnesses, not recording injuries and illnesses within the required time, and not providing OSHA with timely injury and illness records.” Those came with proposed fines of around $29,008 and were part of the same investigation as the citations announced Wednesday."