Report: Workers who deliver Amazon packages are infected at a ‘horrific rate’

Some workers delivering packages to Amazon were more likely to be injured on the job than non-Amazon delivery workers, according to a report by the Strategic Organization Center (SOC) advocacy group (via CNBC). The union alliance compiled data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by Amazon and its contractors, and discovered that an estimated 18.3 percent of Amazon’s subcontracted delivery workers had injuries severe enough to be reported.

As the report notes, Amazon shipments are not entirely delivered by workers the company directly employs. The SOC says that a large portion of packages are delivered by people who work for a Delivery Service Partner (DSP), or a company that contracts with Amazon to make deliveries in a particular area. Amazon also has workers it contracts directly through the Flex system (where gig workers sign up to deliver packages) and has direct employees working at delivery stations and sorting centers.

According to the report, DSP workers are infected at much higher rates than Amazon workers, who themselves are infected more often than delivery workers at non-Amazon companies. The SOC says that in 2021, 10.6 out of every 100 DSP workers were so badly injured that they had to take time off work. And 3.6 out of every 100 DSP workers had injuries that required them to be placed in light duty. These injuries can be caused by things like trips, falls, dog bites, stress from repetitive sprains and car accidents, according to the report, which cites data from the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Insurance Company.

That same year, Amazon delivery system workers outside of the DSP had significantly lower infection rates: 4.7 out of 100 workers on vacation and 2.9 out of 100 workers on job cuts. Non-DSP workers also had a 0.9 rate of “other” injuries—DSP workers had 4.1. Delivery workers not affiliated with Amazon had lower rates: 4 out of 100 had lost time, 2.3 had to do light tasks, and 1.3 were injured categorized as “other injuries.”

The report is based on OSHA reports provided by Amazon and “nearly 10 percent” of Amazon’s DSPs in the United States. Amazon did not respond to the edgeRequest to comment on the report.

The SOC claims there is one main reason DSP workers have such high rates: the exhausting speed with which they are expected to work. The report cites complaints from DSP drivers and lawsuits from the DSP companies themselves that say Amazon expects them to deliver a package every one to two minutes for 10 hours during the busiest time of the year. Workers also told the SOC that they feared they would be fired if they missed their unrealistic quotas. Amazon reportedly does not provide accommodations for local conditions, such as narrow streets that are difficult to navigate with its trucks or difficult terrain.

There have been similar stories about the company’s unrealistic goals for warehouse workers.

While DSP drivers are not direct employees of Amazon, companies should at least take responsibility for the actions of other companies they choose to work with. This is especially true in the case of Amazon — the retailer has shown that it is willing to set rules around driver hygiene and social media posts, and it monitors them with AI cameras and annoying and frustrating apps. It also sets the quotas that distribution service providers are required to adhere to. It’s hard to imagine that Amazon couldn’t find a way to ensure that contract drivers were as safe as those they hire directly (although, arguably, they should aim for the best).

Chart: SOC

Amazon leadership has treated injuries before. In his letter to shareholders in 2021, CEO Andy Gacy said the company’s recordable accident rates were “slightly below the average of our courier and delivery companies.” The Special Operations Committee (SOC) disputed this statement in its report, calling it “seriously misleading.” The union claims that Amazon was using old numbers from 2020, when infection rates were much lower. (It was also reported that infection rates at Amazon warehouses declined in 2020 before rising again in 2021.)

The SOC also says that the numbers Amazon provides to support its claim “slightly below average” do not include a significant portion of deliveries because they do not take into account infection data from distribution service providers. This shouldn’t necessarily be surprising given that Amazon doesn’t consider them employees. (It “empowers” them but doesn’t employ them.) However, DSP drivers dress as Amazon, drive a truck with the company’s logo, and are even given driving directions by an Amazon device.