Amazon Admits To Flouting Safety Norms At Manesar Warehouse, Claims Action

Ecommerce major Amazon India has reportedly acknowledged lapses in workplace safety at its Haryana’s Manesar warehouse.

As per Economic Times’ report, the company in its communication to central labour commissioner, admitted to breaching workplace safety standards on May 16 at its Manesar warehouse and committed to taking immediate corrective measures.

Responding to the central labour ministry’s inquiry on the matter, Amazon India clarified that one of its employees at the facility led a small group of employees and associates in a pledge following a scheduled breaks, perceiving it as a motivational activity of the team, the report added.

“In this case, we conducted a detailed investigation, found an isolated incident of poor judgement by an individual that was totally unacceptable and against our policies, and took disciplinary action,” an Amazon spokesperson told Inc42.

“There’s nothing more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of our employees and associates, and we comply with all relevant laws and regulations,” the spokesperson added.

This comes days after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sought a detailed report from the Centre over allegations of labour law violations at Amazon India’s warehouse in Manesar. The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of a report by the Indian Express which alleged harsh working conditions at the ecommerce major’s warehouse.

Some of the complaints alarmed by the workers from the warehouse based on reports were that a female worker claimed her long standing duty for nine hours a day and was required to evaluate 60 small products or 40 medium-sized products per hour while on duty.

Another worker at the facility was also asked by his supervisor to take a pledge that he would not take toilet or water breaks till the unloading of packages from six trucks was completed, while yet another female employee alleged that no restroom facilities are available at the Manesar unit.

“We take the lessons learnt from this disappointing incident seriously and will double down on our efforts to re-train our managers on workplace health, safety and well-being,” Amazon India assured the government.

The company also said it has taken note of the government’s suggestion concerning ramping up its seating capacity and deploying a female nurse at its medical room to attend to the medical needs of women working on night shifts.