All articles tagged with #labor and workplace safety
A Senate report led by Sen. Bernie Sanders claims Amazon's Prime Day significantly increases injury rates among warehouse workers, citing internal data and employee interviews. The report criticizes Amazon's safety practices and alleges underreporting of injuries. Amazon disputes these findings, highlighting its safety improvements and cooperation with the investigation.
Major freight railroads in the United States have resisted joining a government safety hotline due to a disagreement over whether they should be allowed to discipline workers who use the hotline to report safety concerns. Unions and workplace safety experts argue that the ability to discipline workers undermines the purpose of the hotline, as it discourages workers from reporting safety violations for fear of retribution. The railroads claim that the system could be abused by workers trying to avoid discipline by reporting known safety violations. The dispute highlights a long-standing effort by railroads to suppress injury and hazard reporting, according to experts.
Congressional Democrats have introduced a bill in the House and Senate that would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to adopt an interim heat standard for workplace safety. The proposed legislation aims to address the health risks of extreme heat faced by workers, as heat alerts cover over 100 million people nationwide. President Joe Biden has also taken actions to crack down on heat-safety violations and invest in weather forecasting and water storage. OSHA is currently developing a heat standard, but the proposed bill would expedite the process and require an interim standard to be finalized within a year of passage. Advocates hope the bill can be passed in time to take effect by next summer.