Amazon have recently been under fire after reports of staff at their Dunfermline warehouse receiving penalties for taking time off sick and penalties for lateness. The same reports also suggest some of them have taken to camping nearby in tents, being unable to afford the travel to and from work.
Living wages and adverse conditions
The problem with the Dunfermline branch according to the newspapers, is that a combination of poor wages and poor working conditions are leading staff to resort to such drastic actions as camping. The conditions also pose a serious risk to workers becoming heavily fatigued, heightening risk of accidents caused by human error and tiredness.
Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Renner spoke following the discovery of at least three tents close to the warehouse, saying “Amazon should be ashamed that they pay their workers so little that they have to camp out in the dead of Winter to make ends meet”. The cost of the transport for an employee is allegedly around £10 per day, over 1 hour’s wages.
Employees are also subject to intense time restrictions on breaks and during work by being given hard targets to achieve according to former workers. The targets, mixed with the difficult work/life balance could result in mental, physical and emotional strains on workers which vastly increase chances of human errors when moving around the warehouse either on foot or behind the wheel of vehicles used to pick products.
Work injury hotspot
It would not take long for a group of overworked employees to begin making mistakes (which would not be their fault) due to overtiredness and risking injuring each other. Doing so could easily make the warehouse a personal injury hotspot and cost time off work for a considerable number of people.
Workplace injuries can cause many problems beyond the injury itself for an employee. They could face tine away from work or if the injury is particularly bad they could be forced to change job roles to accommodate circumstances or be required to change jobs altogether if their job at the time required certain abilities which they have since lost due to injury.
We have handled cases for employees in similar situations to those reportedly taking place in Dunfermline. From experience we understand that overworking staff and setting very difficult targets can demoralise and cause very heavy fatigue. That fatigue greatly increases safety risks which are the fault of those in charge, not the individuals.
If you feel you or a family member have suffered injuries caused by negligence of an employer then you are entitled to compensation for those injuries.
Make a claim
To make a no win, no fee claim with Scott Rees & Co you can either call one of our expert team on 01695 722 222 for free, impartial, conscientious advice regarding your injury or you can begin your claim online by filling in our claim form to let us know about your injury. From there we can call you back when convenient to discuss your options.