Amazon warehouse robots cause 50% more accidents

A new report revealed that the use of robots, in centers and warehouses of the Amazon company, leads to more injuries among human employees, although the famous company in the field of e-commerce claims that the technology reduces accidents, according to what was published by the British “Daily Mail”.

Based on internal records from 150 Amazon warehouses, severe injuries were 50% higher in facilities with robots compared to warehouses that rely solely on humans.

The number of injuries doubled in 4 years

According to the reports of the “Reveal” investigative site, there were 14,000 serious injuries in 2019, an increase of nearly 33% from 2015, and equivalent to twice the average number of injuries in the field of stores and warehouses of e-commerce companies as a whole.

Amazon claimed that the numbers recorded are exaggerated because its departments encourage workers to report even minor accidents.

Amazon began placing robots in its warehouse in 2012 after it bought Kiva Systems, now known as Amazon Robotics, for $ 775 million.

Amazon currently uses more than 200,000 robots or robots in dozens of its 175 warehouses.

A robot weighing half a ton

The robots, each weighing half a ton, work alongside human workers to “select, sort, transport and store packages.” Amazon was promoting this step as a harmonious symphony in the interest of both workers and consumers, as it reduces the physical effort of workers on one side and reduces costs for the end consumer on the other side.

Pressure increases errors

While automation or automated vehicles are adopted for certain tasks and duties, such as transporting goods inside heavy boxes or huge shelves across buildings, there are complaints from workers now that their work tasks have become limited to monotonous work with an increased possibility of minor or serious injuries.

The efficiency of robots increased productivity targets in a warehouse, for example, by fetching, transporting and storing 400 items after the target was only 100 items before getting the robots involved in the work. Amazon warehouse workers explained that this pressure leads to more errors, accidents and injuries.