Colorado Springs Amazon center cited for hazardous conditions

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - One of the nation’s largest employers, Amazon, is facing its third citation from the U.S. Department of Labor.

This fine comes after an employee’s complaint about the safety and efficiency of the facility in Colorado Springs.

Amazon representitives said in a statement that they don’t believe the allegations reflect the reality of safety at their facilities.

“We take the safety and health of our employees very seriously, and we don’t believe the government’s allegations reflect the reality of safety at our sites,” Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel said. “We’ve cooperated with OSHA and demonstrated how we work to mitigate risks and keep our people safe, and our publicly available data shows we reduced injury rates in the U.S. nearly 15% between 2019 and 2021. There will always be more to do, and we’ll continue working to get better every day.”

The report from the Labor Department claims Amazon is exposing workers to an unsafe work environment.

The Amazon warehouse is a delivery site and processes up to 10,000 packages per hour. It was the processing speed in this facility that was up for question in the investigation.

The investigation started back in August following an employee complaint that lead to a $15,625 in penalties for Amazon. The investigation revealed the processing speed could lead to health and safety risks for workers and found the facility had some blocked fire exits.

One current Amazon employee told 11 News that fine is not enough.

“You are supposed to use two people when it gets to like a heavy, heavy box,” Amazon employee Maurice Hany said. “And if you call and say, ‘Hey this box is kind of heavy, I don’t want to pick the box up and hurt myself.’ Don’t do that... don’t do that. Because they gonna call you lazy.”

Amazon representatives said there is always more to be done and they plan to get better everyday.

The Springs facility is the latest in a growing number of Amazon centers to be penalized by federal inspectors for hazardous conditions.

“On Jan. 18, 2023, and Feb. 1, 2023, the agency cited Amazon and issued hazard alert letters for similar violations at six warehouse facilities in Deltona, Florida; Waukegan, Illinois; New Windsor and Castleton, New York; Nampa, Idaho; and Aurora, Colorado. These inspections followed referrals from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” OSHA said Thursday.

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