On the afternoon of May 8, 20-year-old Kaise Grosbeck was trying to remove an obstruction from the conveyor belt at an Amazon distribution center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was on his way to resolve the issue on an elevated lift when his head struck the conveyor belt and became trapped in the machinery, according to a safety order issued on September 18. He died from blunt force injuries.
Amazon Safety Investigations
After an 11-week investigation, Indiana safety officials found that Amazon did not ensure a workplace “free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death” and issued a serious safety violation.
Amazon’s Limited Consequences
Amazon, the second-largest private employer in America, needs more oversight due to the high injury rates in its warehouses, as several government entities raise alarms about environmental safety. However, cases like Grosbeck’s reveal the limited capacity of state and federal regulatory bodies to impose penalties or enforce safety policies on large corporations like Amazon.
Amazon Investigations and Limited Consequences
Amazon is currently facing two investigations regarding its internal medical office, AmCare, and how it documents and reports injuries at Amazon. One investigation is by the Southern District Attorney’s Office in New York and the other is by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders has demanded information on the “systematically reported injury rates” in the company.
The Impact of Minimal Penalties on Amazon
So far, Amazon has not faced many consequences as a result of this regulatory activity. If it loses in Washington state, it can appeal, a process that could take years. To date, congressional investigations have not yielded any results.
Coordinated Investigations and Penalties
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) typically investigates individual facilities; the agency has stated that it would take 160 years to inspect every workplace in the United States. However, OSHA’s coordinated investigations like those at Amazon can lead to company-wide settlements. Recently, the agency reached such a settlement with Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores over blocked exit routes, followed by a $1.35 million settlement after a six-year investigation and a total of $15 million in individual fines.
OSHA’s Limited Penalties
In 2016, OSHA raised the minimum fines for safety violations, increasing the penalty for repeat violations to $124,709 from $70,000, and the penalty for serious violations to $12,471 from $7,000. However, Debby Berkowitz, a former OSHA chief, stated that penalties remain “ridiculously low — even in cases of fatalities where the company violated the law.”
Penalties in Indiana
Fines are lower in states that run their own safety and health programs. Indiana is considered one of the weakest states for worker protection in the country, according to former federal workplace safety officials. The state not only sets fines for serious violations at $7,000 but also prohibits families from filing wrongful death lawsuits in civil court — even in cases like Grosbeck’s where state officials said the company should have done more to prevent the fatality.
Amazon’s Response and Investigations
According to the Indiana safety order, Amazon should have properly trained employees like Grosbeck, enforced safety rules regarding operating elevated lifts under low-clearance machinery, and more clearly defined “hazard zones.” Amazon disputes the violation, arguing that the company acted swiftly to rectify safety issues, for example, by posting signs in “low-clearance areas.”
Impact
The Few Penalties on Amazon
Regarding Amazon’s record in Washington state concerning safety, Vogel previously stated that the allegations are “inaccurate and do not reflect the reality of safety at Amazon.” She also said that “OSHA records confirm there are no systematic reports of injuries” at Amazon, and that the company takes “the safety and health of our employees seriously.”
Impact on Workers
Grosbick graduated from Wayne High School in 2021. He died 10 days before his 21st birthday, following more than a year after the death of his father Gary due to stomach cancer, leaving his mother Tracy alone. Tracy declined to comment on this article while the state is handling a workers’ compensation claim. According to Grosbick’s obituary, he enjoyed video games, music, and spending time with friends.
Impact on Workers
Alexis Smiley was a classmate of Grosbick and also worked at an Amazon warehouse in Fort Wayne. She said of Grosbick, “He was very smart and gifted, and he was always trying to help.” She recalled that the day the incident occurred was chaotic and horrifying, leaving her worried that it could happen again. The next day, coworkers launched fireworks into the sky in his memory, according to the local news station.
Limited Consequences for Amazon
Grosbick was not the first Amazon employee to die on the job in Indiana. In 2017, a 59-year-old man died after being crushed by a forklift at an Amazon warehouse in Plainfield. An Indiana health inspector who investigated the incident found that Amazon had committed four serious safety violations and imposed a fine of $7,000 for each – totaling $28,000.
Limited Consequences for Amazon
In 2016, Golda Fisher’s husband, Myron, died while working in hotel maintenance in Marion, Indiana. Workplace safety officials issued four safety violations and fined the hotel $2,400. But Golda was shocked to learn that the law prevented her from suing her husband’s employer.
Limited Consequences for Amazon
Wagner, an attorney in Indiana, stated that civil lawsuits would be a more effective deterrent than OSHA penalties, which are insufficient to have a real impact on most companies. He said, “All it takes is a big settlement and the company will change completely. We can’t rely on OSHA to do that.”
Penalties in Indiana
Although Indiana’s program is independent, federal OSHA has oversight. A 2022 federal OSHA report found that the Indiana program needs “further review” because the average penalty for serious violations is more than 25 percent lower than the national average due to “IOSHA not adopting the penalty increases that OSHA implemented in 2016.”
Penalties in Indiana
Indiana OSHA acknowledged this issue in a letter to federal OSHA in 2022, but stated that raising penalties would require legislative intervention. The letter stated, “IOSHA has provided the language and information for that; however, IOSHA cannot make the Indiana General Assembly act.” The Indiana legislature raised some penalties related to workplace safety in 2019, including increasing the penalty for repeated or “willful” safety violations that lead to death to $132,598.
Penalties in the United States
Last year, federal OSHA threatened to withdraw Arizona’s independent program in part due to the penalties not meeting the federal minimum. The issue was dropped after Arizona enacted legislation increasing some state penalties.
Impact on Workers
McFarland, an Indiana OSHA spokesperson, stated in an email that “federal law does not directly require Indiana OSHA to have the same maximum penalties as federal OSHA.” However, U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson Victoria Godinez stated in an email that state plans “must be at least as effective as federal OSHA.” She added that the agency will continue to work with Indiana and monitor its progress and will continue to address concerns related to penalty levels.
Impact
On Workers
When contacted for comment, the Indiana Department of Labor pointed to its press release regarding its record: “We see these steps that companies continue to take to improve the health and safety of the workplace overall. The Indiana Department of Labor will continue to work with businesses across the state to drive this trend.”
“`css
}@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
.lwrp.link-whisper-related-posts{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-title{
}.lwrp .lwrp-description{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container{
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container ul.lwrp-list{
margin-top: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-bottom: 0px;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-double,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-triple{
width: 100%;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container{
justify-content: initial;
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container .lwrp-list-item{
width: 100%;
“`
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item:not(.lwrp-no-posts-message-item){
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-link .lwrp-list-link-title-text,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-no-posts-message{
};
}
Leave a Reply