OSHA calls on Amazon to improve severe weather emergency procedures following fatal warehouse collapse
Dec. 10, 2021, tornado fatally injured 6 contractors sheltering in place in Illinois warehouse
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a Hazard Alert Letter to Amazon, requiring the online retailer to review its severe weather emergency procedures after six contractors were fatally injured and another severely injured when a tornado struck Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse on Dec. 10, 2021.
OSHA investigators determined that while Amazon’s severe weather emergency procedures met minimal federal safety guidelines for storm sheltering, the company should make improvements to further protect workers and contract drivers in future emergencies. OSHA does not have a standard that requires severe weather emergency plans but recommends them under the Occupational and Safety Health Act’s General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide a place of employment free from known hazards.