Amazon ambulance investigation

Investigation reveals ambulances were requested over 1,400 times over five years as GMB union asks for HSE scrutiny.

An investigation conducted by the Observer  shows ambulances were requested over 1,400 times in the past five years to incidents at Amazon’s UK warehouses.

The media outlet filed freedom of information requests with 12 ambulance services across the UK, relating to more than 30 sites including Bolton, Chesterfield, Rugeley and London, among others.

The call outs covered an array of incidents including employee exposure to acids and hazardous gases, as well as incidents involving attempted suicide and miscarriages.

Centres in Dunfermline (161) and Bristol (125) recorded the most call outs in Britain. In Mansfield, ambulances have been called 84 times since 2019, of which 70% of were for category ‘one’ or ‘two’ incidents which can relate to conditions such as heart attacks or strokes.

Investigation findings ‘shocking but not surprising’

The GMB Union is urging the HSE to investigate further and Amanda Gearing from the Union told the Observer that the figures were “shocking, but not surprising”, suggesting the numbers could be higher. “Even these worryingly high figures might hide how commonplace injury and illness is at Amazon,” she said.

In response to the findings, an Amazon spokesperson explained that “Safety is always the absolute priority”. The spokesperson went on to claim that the figures were misleading and that in its own self-reporting data, had logged 50% fewer injuries with the HSE on average than other transportation and warehousing businesses.

Homepage image credit: Nick Fontana/Alamy Stock Photo

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In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

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