Amazon employee collapses and dies at Oregon facility as coworkers continue working nearby
Troutdale, Oregon: Amazon worker dies at warehouse
An employee died at Amazon’s PDX9 warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon, last week. The worker collapsed on the floor and lay there as other employees kept working around him. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the death to TechCrunch reporters.
The company said the Oregon safety agency OSHA found the death was not work-related. Amazon sent workers home early and paid them for their full shifts. The night shift was also canceled, and those workers got paid too.
Some workers on a Reddit forum said the warehouse was very hot after soundproof curtains were installed. They think the heat might have made the employee’s job harder. Workers noticed that the building was cooler when they returned the next day.
PDX9 warehouse has a bad reputation for working conditions. A 2018 investigation found that 26 out of every 100 workers there got injured. Amazon says it has spent over $2.5 billion on safety improvements since 2019. The company reports a 43% drop in injury rates since then.