Congressional hearing to be held examining warehouse safety
ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. (CBS) -- A congressional hearing will be held Thursday morning to examine warehouse safety nationwide, particularly at Amazon warehouses.
South Jersey Congressman Donald Norcross (D, NJ-01) told Eyewitness News he requested the hearing before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee after three New Jersey Amazon workers died in one month last summer.
"We need to get to the bottom of this so that people can come home in the same condition as they're going to work, safe and sound," Norcross said.
Amazon said one of those deaths was not work-related and said it was cooperating fully with OSHA.
A New Jersey Policy Perspective and Rutgers University study revealed in 2021, the injury rate inside Amazon's New Jersey warehouses jumped more than 54% compared to 2020.
The study also says that same year, Amazon accounted for 47% of New Jersey's warehouse industry yet it was responsible for 57% of the sector's injuries.
Amazon said in 2021, it invested $300 million in safety innovations and improvements.
South Jersey workers compensation attorney Stephen Matarazzo represents many injured Amazon workers.
"Amazon is, number one, at least from my perspective as a New Jersey workers compensation attorney, in terms of injuries that are not handled properly medically," Matarazzo said.
He said many of his clients suffer from repeatedly bending and lifting as they try to meet Amazon's quotas.
"You can only bend and lift so much in an hour," Matarazzo said. "I think the requirements that they're putting on the injured workers are significant and are causing injuries."
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said, "The safety and health of our employees is, and always has been, our top priority. We know we have work to do, but we're proud of the various ways we've innovated and invented to make our workplaces safer. We'll continue to do so, and won't compromise or stop until we're excellent when it comes to safety."
