OSHA issues hazard alerts for three Amazon warehouses
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued hazard letters after it found ergonomic dangers at three Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) warehouse facilities in Deltona, Florida; Waukegan, Illinois; and New Windsor, New York.
The regulatory body found several ergonomic and struck-by hazards following safety investigations at the facilities. It is conducting similar inspections at three other Amazon locations in Aurora, Colorado; Nampa, Idaho; and Castleton, New York.

Amazon warehouse workers were found to be at high risk for lower back injuries and musculoskeletal disorders due to a high frequency of lifting heavy packages, awkward postures such as twisting, bending and long reaches while lifting, and long hours of work engaged in such tasks.
OSHA also discovered high rates of musculoskeletal disorders in on-site injury logs. Amazon faces proposed penalties of $60,269 for these violations.
Heavy workloads, coupled with mask/social distancing measures, have created friction between Amazon (AMZN) management and employees in recent months. In April last year a facility in Staten Island became Amazon's first facility to have a union after previous attempts failed.
More recently, Amazon has decided to pursue layoffs of around 18,000 jobs, mostly in the retail division and human resources. The retailer is also shutting down its AmazonSmile charity donation program as part of cost-cutting efforts.
Shares of Amazon (AMZN) fell over 1% in Thursday's premarket session