Warehouse work is undeniably hard on the body. Those who make their living working in Massachusetts warehouse environments may have firsthand knowledge of the aches and pains that accompany the position. Yet, studies show workers who work for one particular warehouse employer suffer far more than their share of warehouse injuries.
According to CNN, employees who work for one of the nation’s most prolific warehouse employers suffer almost half, or 49%, of all on-the-job injuries seen industrywide. However, that same employer only employs about 33% of the nation’s warehouse workforce. This raises questions about why injuries are so prevalent in this particular warehouse environment.
How many warehouse workers are suffering injuries
In 2021 alone, employees who work in warehouses for the employer suffered 38,334 injuries that were serious enough in nature to record. Of those 38,334 injuries, about 34,000 of them were serious enough to warrant employees having to take time off to recover. These numbers show that for every 100 warehouse workers the employer employs full-time, 6.8 of them suffer serious injuries on an annual basis. Other warehouse employers report an average of 3.3 serious injuries for every 100 warehouse workers employed full-time.
What may be contributing to these injuries
Many employees who work for this particular warehouse employer have long argued that the company places a heavier emphasis on profits than it does on worker safety. Warehouses where human beings regularly work with robots have particularly high injury rates.
The injury rate seen at the employer’s warehouses in 2021 was its second-highest in the last five years, trailing only behind the number of injuries suffered by workers in those warehouses in 2019.
