Work Injury Can Result From Too Fast a Pace

American society has become accustomed to being the best and fastest in many facets of everyday life. Not least among these is speedy delivery services provided by companies such as Amazon. The speedy deliveries may be coming at a cost to the health of some of the workers who are tasked with fulfilling the orders in New Jersey and around the country. The speed required to fill the orders and deliver them quickly may have resulted in an increase in the rate of work injury among Amazon warehouse workers.

Workers in a neighboring state claim that they package approximately four online orders per minute. Any slow down in that rate has a negative impact on the worker’s performance reviews. As a consequence, many experience repetitive motion injuries and increased fatigue, stress and anxiety. The work the fulfillment staff are doing involves frequent lifting, bending, twisting and running. All of this appears to be contributing to an increase in the number of musculoskeletal injuries involving the back, neck and feet.

Safety complaints against Amazon are not an unusual or rare occurrence. The company was fined $7,000 in 2016 for failing to report multiple injuries received at a New Jersey facility. The complaint stated that employees were exposed to the possibility of repetitive motion injuries due to 10-hour shifts and excessive physical demand needed to maintain the level of output the company required.

Every person working in a physically demanding job has a right to expect a certain level of safety and protection from injury while performing their jobs. While some jobs do come with inherent risks, precautions should be put in place in an attempt to prevent work injury. A person who believes one may have suffered an injury on the job could benefit from seeking counsel from a workers’ compensation professional in New Jersey.