Amazon to pay OSHA $145,000 for workplace safety settlement

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reached a settlement with Amazon over alleged unsafe workplace conditions at ten of the tech giant’s facilities. Under the terms of the settlement, Amazon will pay a $145,000 penalty and must implement “corporate-wide ergonomic measures” to reduce the risk of injury to workers. OSHA will also continue to inspect facilities over the next two years. On the government side of the deal is OSHA withdrawal nine out of ten ergonomic citations against the company.

Ergonomic injuries are also known as musculoskeletal disorders. These can include sprains and strains sustained at work.

A representative from the Ministry of Labor said ABC News that this settlement is the “largest of its kind” and will “resolve all outstanding ergonomic litigation” against Amazon. However, it will not affect a separate investigation into Amazon’s alleged cover-up of workplace injuries, which is currently underway in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Amazon has denied these allegations.

Amazon’s workforce also made news this week as strikes began at multiple facilities in California, Georgia, Illinois and New York. Members of the Teamsters union organized the effort, with several union sections voting to take action against the company. The Teamsters had called on Amazon to negotiate over working conditions, wages and benefits, asking the company to agree to contract negotiation dates by Dec. 15. Local journalists from The Gate of Hell captured footage from the first day of strikes in Queens, New York, showing a peaceful column broken up by local police who, according to barricades erected to allow contractors to sign in and out of Amazon’s distribution center.

“If your package is delayed over the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien c from the organization. “We have given Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored him.”