Amazon is one of the leading eCommerce companies in the world with large fulfillment centers across the United States and worldwide. The company declares its commitment to maintaining the highest workplace safety measures at its facilities, with a focus on its employees’ wellbeing and progress (Amazon, 2021b). This paper sheds light on the fulfillment center is located in East Dallas with the focus on the occupational setting.
The facility in question is over 400,000 square feet and employs approximately 800 full-time employees. The demographics of the fulfillment center in question are similar to the organization’s average data across the country in terms of gender, which is approximately 50% of female and 50% of male warehouse workers (Amazon, 2020b). The ethnic composition of the workforce at the facility is almost consistent with the national average, with about 30% of LatinX, slightly over 30% of Blacks, and slightly less than 30% of Whites. The representation of other groups, such as Asian, Native American, and multiracial, is approximately 10%. It is necessary to note that Amazon facilities are highly automated, which makes the need for manpower less critical as compared to other warehouses. However, the company tends to hire part-time employees during the high season, which is December (due to Christmas-time present spree). These are low-paid low-skilled workers who, nonetheless, can become full-time workers due to the peculiarities of human resources policies related to staff training and development.
As mentioned above, technological advances have shaped the way the logistics field has evolved. Levy, Wegman, Baron, and Sokas (2011) note that technology is instrumental in making occupational settings safer and more efficient for workers, although injuries are still rather common. Richardson, Gordey, and Hall (2020) provide an example of typical injuries stating that the high demands of the employer result in injuries that are preventable. Technological advances contribute to the decrease of such cases, but they can hardly be eliminated, at least, at this point. Recent data shows that the number of occupational injuries has increased with the most apparent types of accidents related to repetitive motion and lifting (Delp, Cole, Lozano, & Riley, 2021). Although the companies involved in the warehousing industry, including Amazon, comply with high standards provided by the U. S. government, such cases need attention. According to the standards of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2019), employers are responsible for the development of diverse prevention programs aimed at ensuring employees’ safety and wellness. Amazon makes considerable effort to achieve the established objectives and improve working conditions.
As for the major processes taking place at the fulfillment center under discussion, it encompasses several stages, which affect the layout of the facility. The center is divided into zones, and employees work in teams. The first stage of the process is receiving items from producers and partners. Inventory storage is the next step that often requires specific attention to avoid overloads and ineffective use of spaces. Packaging and shipping follow the storage phase. Returns management is another step of the process. All these operations are fulfilled by employees who rely on technology but still have to do a considerable amount of manual work as well. Repetitive motion can be seen as one of the most typical types of activity almost all workers at the center have to complete. This activity often leads to injuries and burnout that are often associated with errors.
As for the health and safety team, Amazon has quite a well-established system aimed at improving employees’ health and wellbeing. It is noteworthy that all workers have health insurance, and the company even launched a project that implies collaboration with a health organization to create a health center near the warehouse (Amazon, 2020a). Amazon tries to make employees’ access to high-quality healthcare services wider. At present, the health and safety team includes a nurse and occupational safety manager.
The nurse assesses employees’ health and provides care or informs them about the steps to be undertaken (such as addressing a particular healthcare professional). The nurse provides care when acute cases take place. At that, the largest amount of the work performed by this professional is associated with health assessment and the provision of educational services. The nurse focuses on health aspects, while the workplace manager pays more attention to workers’ safety. The occupational manager develops and reviews the facility’s guidelines related to employee safety. This professional ensures that these standards are compliant with the principles and regulations introduced by federal and state authorities. The occupational manager also creates initiatives aimed at informing workers and building the necessary skills. This practitioner also discusses employees’ concerns related to workplace safety or any threats they might encounter. Reporting injuries and accidents is also one of the responsibilities of this manager.
The nurse and the occupational manager often collaborate and develop materials aimed at informing workers about injury prevention, healthy habits, and so on. The development of memos and notifications, as well as posters and leaflets or other materials, is included in a range of the team’s responsibilities. The team meets on a regular basis, which helps the team members remain updated on the most recent aspects to be addressed and voice the most urgent issues. The team may also include the representatives of workers, which takes place when the programs aimed at solving specific problems are under discussion.
The facility participates in a project launched by the company to boost employees’ wellness. WorkingWell is the incentive that involves the focus on physical health, mental health, and wellness (Amazon, 2021a). Health and occupational safety team develop and implement training sessions for workers concentrating on injury prevention, safety standards compliance, COVID-related information, healthy lifestyle, healthy diets, mental health strategies, and physical activity. This incentive is associated with various discussions that encompass a large population, including warehouse workers.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that the fulfillment center under discussion can be seen as an illustration of an appropriate working environment that can be improved. The company tries to enhance the level of diversity with a focus on gender and ethnicity. The prevalent workforce at the warehouse under study is non-Whites with minimal payment, which shows the limitations to the diversity policies chosen by Amazon. Safety is still an urgent issue to be addressed, and the organization should develop innovative strategies and tools to ensure people’s safety and wellness. The workplace safety manager and other members of the health and safety team come up with different incentives that are instrumental in improving working conditions at the facility. Clearly, further steps in this direction are necessary to make sure that the fulfillment center will remain operational.
References
Amazon. (2020a). Amazon pilots opening health care centers near its fulfillment centers. Web.
Amazon. (2020b). Our workforce data. Web.
Amazon. (2021a). Meet employees behind Amazon’s new health and wellness program. Web.
Amazon. (2021b). Safety, health, and well-being. Web.
Delp, L., Cole, B., Lozano, G., & Riley, K. (2021). Worker injuries in Southern California’s warehousing industry: How to better protect workers in this burgeoning industry? New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 31(2), 178-192.
Levy, B. S., Wegman, D. H., Baron, S. L., & Sokas, R. K. (Eds.) (2011). Occupational and environmental health: Recognizing and preventing disease and injury (6th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2019). Occupational safety and health. Healthy People 2020. Web.
Richardson, R. E., Gordey, L., & Hall, R. (2020). Amazon’s fast delivery. Journal of Business Ethics Education, 17, 251-254.