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Serious question, how do you injure yourself in an Amazon warehouse? I thought there wasn't any heavy machinery or other dangerous machines. Is it just from too

Serious question, how do you injure yourself in an Amazon warehouse? I thought there wasn't any heavy machinery or other dangerous machines. Is it just from too much walking?

saynay 5y ago
Aren't they lifting and moving packages? All sorts of muscle strains possible from that. Especially if there is little downtime for rest throughout the day.
toomuchtodo 5y ago
Amazon calls their warehouse staff “industrial athletes” in internal docs. https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/2/22465357/amazon-industrial-athlete-warehouse-worker-wellness-pamphlet https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/2/22465357/amazon-industrial... > Amazon tells its warehouse employees to think of themselves not as overworked cogs in an enormous, soul-crushing machine, but as “industrial athletes,” and to prepare their bodies for that experience like someone training for a sporting event, according to a pamphlet obtained by Motherboard. The comparison is a troubling euphemism for a company whose workers have almost double the amount of serious injuries as the rest of the warehousing industry and who reportedly are often unable to take bathroom breaks. > The pamphlet tells employees that some of them will walk up to 13 miles throughout the course of the day, burning an average of 400 calories an hour. It also suggests all sorts of ways to help workers prepare for the athlete life, including changes to their diets and sleep schedules and making sure they’re not dehydrated throughout the day by keeping an eye on the color of their urine. It also suggests that employees buy shoes “at the end of the day when [their] feet are swollen” to avoid tightness and blisters — advice that will be familiar to distance runners or multi-day hikers.
- ghufran_syed 5y ago
  "Double the amount of serious injuries" - using a metric based on whether you got time off or a change in duties. So if your company is better about making you see a doctor when you get an injury, and better about honoring the doctor's recommendation regarding light duty or time off, your company's number on this metric would get worse. I see a lot of illegal workers in the ER who get injured at work but refuse to fill out the workman's comp forms - you can guarantee that their employers have a zero rate for serious injuries using that metric [Edit - If you're looking to really improve conditions, maybe focus on the workers who don't show up in the official numbers? Reminds me of the old story about the drunk guy looking for his lost keys by the lamppost, not where he dropped them "because the light is better here"]
- WalterBright 5y ago
  I read an article about the native inhabitants of Australia and their very low rates of heart disease. It turns out that the males walked an average of 9 miles a day, the women 5.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  Good Lord, that's genuinely dystopian. People often say the '70s was too biased in favour of unions, but I can't help but wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction in the present. Those two paragraphs make me want to retch like a cat puking up a hairball.
  - andrepd 5y ago
    >I can't help but wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction We are full on into an unopposed neoliberal world order. The pendulum has swung so far in this direction that an alternative or an opposition to this philosophy simply does not exist anymore in the public sphere.
- HomeDeLaPot 5y ago
  Okay, that actually sounds like it might be healthier than my desk job. And Amazon providing health advice isn't a bad thing, cringey corporate speak notwithstanding. The 2x injury rate and lack of bathroom breaks are the troubling parts.
wincy 5y ago
A friend of mine working at an Amazon center injured himself because he walks 5+ miles per shift. He also weighs like 350 pounds. He’s lost like 50 pounds already so hopefully he’ll get to a weight where he’s not injuring himself before he ends up having to quit. Amazon isn’t obligated to provide my morbidly obese friend with a job, and he knows that, and he’s doing his best to keep on without destroying his body.
- 1123581321 5y ago
  Sounds unpleasant, but really good for him and potentially life extending. The trick is keeping it off after switching jobs. A friend is dealing with that after moving off a busy manufacturing line to office work.
- sjg007 5y ago
  It actually sounds like a great way to lose weight if you can handle it. We need to walk more. I’ve thought about moving to NYC just to walk more.
  - neilv 5y ago
    Boston is pretty walkable, too. Example: Some routes between Harvard Yard and Long Wharf take you through residential and nightlife areas where a lot of people life, past biotechs, MIT, a few FAANG outposts, over a bridge with great views, across the Esplanade park, past at least a major hospital, financial district, through North End (Italian restaurants), tourist area, and to harbor walk, to sit on Long Wharf and watch the boats and airplanes. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Harvard+Yard,+Massachusetts+Avenue,+Cambridge,+MA/Long+Wharf,+Boston,+MA+02110/@42.3649856,-71.1194326,13z/ https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Harvard+Yard,+Massachusetts+... (Separate from walking, a lot of people bicycle here, and you'll see heavy bikes on some streets during commuter hours, but don't beware that bicyclist safety is so-so here. If you decide to bike instead of walk, watch out for car doors opening into your path, trucks making turns, negligent car drivers, other bikers ignoring road rules, mild resentment of bicyclists, etc. Personally, I just walk, and know that there's a good chance that a driver even going through the busiest Central Square intersection is looking at their phone. :)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Retric 5y ago
They do operate some heavy equipment in the warehouse, but the people on foot aren’t that safe. Many injuries are based on people being unprepared for such an extremely athletic job, repetitive strain, or continuing to work injured. The more serious injuries are normally stuff like back injuries from lifting heavy weights bent over in a hurry, falls etc. One example was dog food stored under a low platform so people needed to Cary 50lb bags while bent over. It’s possible to do that safely, but when you’re tired and in a hurry it’s easy to hurt yourself doing that.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
These are repetitive strain or slip and fall injuries from handling heavy or unwieldy objects. Not mashed limbs from heavy machinery.
acranox 5y ago
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/24/business/insult-injury-working-an-amazon-warehouse-is-dangerous-its-also-first-many-problems-facing-injured-workers/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/24/business/insult-injur... Lifting heavy objects, or having heavy objects fall on you is apparently common.

Serious question, how do you injure yourself in an Amazon warehouse? I thought there wasn't any heavy machinery or other dangerous machines. Is it just from too much walking?

saynay 5y ago

Aren't they lifting and moving packages? All sorts of muscle strains possible from that. Especially if there is little downtime for rest throughout the day.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Amazon calls their warehouse staff “industrial athletes” in internal docs. https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/2/22465357/amazon-industrial-athlete-warehouse-worker-wellness-pamphlet https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/2/22465357/amazon-industrial... > Amazon tells its warehouse employees to think of themselves not as overworked cogs in an enormous, soul-crushing machine, but as “industrial athletes,” and to prepare their bodies for that experience like someone training for a sporting event, according to a pamphlet obtained by Motherboard. The comparison is a troubling euphemism for a company whose workers have almost double the amount of serious injuries as the rest of the warehousing industry and who reportedly are often unable to take bathroom breaks. > The pamphlet tells employees that some of them will walk up to 13 miles throughout the course of the day, burning an average of 400 calories an hour. It also suggests all sorts of ways to help workers prepare for the athlete life, including changes to their diets and sleep schedules and making sure they’re not dehydrated throughout the day by keeping an eye on the color of their urine. It also suggests that employees buy shoes “at the end of the day when [their] feet are swollen” to avoid tightness and blisters — advice that will be familiar to distance runners or multi-day hikers.

ghufran_syed 5y ago
"Double the amount of serious injuries" - using a metric based on whether you got time off or a change in duties. So if your company is better about making you see a doctor when you get an injury, and better about honoring the doctor's recommendation regarding light duty or time off, your company's number on this metric would get worse. I see a lot of illegal workers in the ER who get injured at work but refuse to fill out the workman's comp forms - you can guarantee that their employers have a zero rate for serious injuries using that metric [Edit - If you're looking to really improve conditions, maybe focus on the workers who don't show up in the official numbers? Reminds me of the old story about the drunk guy looking for his lost keys by the lamppost, not where he dropped them "because the light is better here"]
WalterBright 5y ago
I read an article about the native inhabitants of Australia and their very low rates of heart disease. It turns out that the males walked an average of 9 miles a day, the women 5.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
BoxOfRain 5y ago
Good Lord, that's genuinely dystopian. People often say the '70s was too biased in favour of unions, but I can't help but wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction in the present. Those two paragraphs make me want to retch like a cat puking up a hairball.
- andrepd 5y ago
  >I can't help but wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction We are full on into an unopposed neoliberal world order. The pendulum has swung so far in this direction that an alternative or an opposition to this philosophy simply does not exist anymore in the public sphere.
HomeDeLaPot 5y ago
Okay, that actually sounds like it might be healthier than my desk job. And Amazon providing health advice isn't a bad thing, cringey corporate speak notwithstanding. The 2x injury rate and lack of bathroom breaks are the troubling parts.

wincy 5y ago

A friend of mine working at an Amazon center injured himself because he walks 5+ miles per shift. He also weighs like 350 pounds. He’s lost like 50 pounds already so hopefully he’ll get to a weight where he’s not injuring himself before he ends up having to quit. Amazon isn’t obligated to provide my morbidly obese friend with a job, and he knows that, and he’s doing his best to keep on without destroying his body.

1123581321 5y ago
Sounds unpleasant, but really good for him and potentially life extending. The trick is keeping it off after switching jobs. A friend is dealing with that after moving off a busy manufacturing line to office work.
sjg007 5y ago
It actually sounds like a great way to lose weight if you can handle it. We need to walk more. I’ve thought about moving to NYC just to walk more.
- neilv 5y ago
  Boston is pretty walkable, too. Example: Some routes between Harvard Yard and Long Wharf take you through residential and nightlife areas where a lot of people life, past biotechs, MIT, a few FAANG outposts, over a bridge with great views, across the Esplanade park, past at least a major hospital, financial district, through North End (Italian restaurants), tourist area, and to harbor walk, to sit on Long Wharf and watch the boats and airplanes. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Harvard+Yard,+Massachusetts+Avenue,+Cambridge,+MA/Long+Wharf,+Boston,+MA+02110/@42.3649856,-71.1194326,13z/ https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Harvard+Yard,+Massachusetts+... (Separate from walking, a lot of people bicycle here, and you'll see heavy bikes on some streets during commuter hours, but don't beware that bicyclist safety is so-so here. If you decide to bike instead of walk, watch out for car doors opening into your path, trucks making turns, negligent car drivers, other bikers ignoring road rules, mild resentment of bicyclists, etc. Personally, I just walk, and know that there's a good chance that a driver even going through the busiest Central Square intersection is looking at their phone. :)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Retric 5y ago

They do operate some heavy equipment in the warehouse, but the people on foot aren’t that safe. Many injuries are based on people being unprepared for such an extremely athletic job, repetitive strain, or continuing to work injured. The more serious injuries are normally stuff like back injuries from lifting heavy weights bent over in a hurry, falls etc. One example was dog food stored under a low platform so people needed to Cary 50lb bags while bent over. It’s possible to do that safely, but when you’re tired and in a hurry it’s easy to hurt yourself doing that.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

These are repetitive strain or slip and fall injuries from handling heavy or unwieldy objects. Not mashed limbs from heavy machinery.

acranox 5y ago

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/24/business/insult-injury-working-an-amazon-warehouse-is-dangerous-its-also-first-many-problems-facing-injured-workers/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/24/business/insult-injur... Lifting heavy objects, or having heavy objects fall on you is apparently common.