Amazon Upgrades Warehouse AC Following Heat Complaints, Worker Death

Amazon.com, Inc AMZN upgraded the air conditioning system at a New Jersey warehouse where it blamed a worker's death during a heat wave in July on a "personal medical condition," CNBC reports quoting NBC News.
Amazon reportedly installed an extensive new ducting system on the ground floor of the warehouse in Carteret, known as EWR9.
The equipment was part of a new industrial air conditioner that the company added weeks after the death of Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias.
Amazon installed the fans around the warehouse where Frias collapsed while working, which was known for being especially hot and with minimal air circulation.
Amazon acknowledged regularly updating its facilities with climate control systems and safety precautions.
Amazon and other major logistics operators, including United Parcel Service, Inc UPS and FedEx Corp FDX, faced growing scrutiny over labor conditions amid a summer of record heat.
Several workers at an Amazon air hub in San Bernardino, California, recently staged a walkout citing heat-related job risks, among others.
Frias died after collapsing around 8 a.m. on July 13 during the busy Prime Day shopping rush, which coincided with an East Coast heat wave.
Facility workers and Amazon Labor Union linked the death to the heat, alleging Amazon forced Frias to work despite his chest pains. Amazon has dismissed the allegations.
Federal prosecutors in New York and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected some Amazon warehouses following complaints from lawmakers, regulators, activist groups, and its workers over its treatment of warehouse and delivery employees.
A study suggested that Amazon's U.S. warehouse workers suffered severe injuries twice rival companies' rate.
Price Action: AMZN shares traded higher by 0.23% at $133.53 in the premarket on the last check Tuesday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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