Internal documents show automated Amazon warehouses have higher injury rates

Amazon’s warehouses with robots, which the company has claimed would help reduce worker injuries, actually have higher injury rates than warehouses without automation, according to internal Amazon records obtained by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. The stunning fact comes as part of a broader report investigating rising injury rates at Amazon warehouses across the country.

Amazon’s warehouse robots are apparently so efficient that quotas have increased substantially, requiring workers to do repetitive motions over long shifts that can eventually lead to injuries. For example, workers who grab and scan items had their quotas increase from about 100 items an hour to 400 items an hour in the automated warehouses,...

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