Amazon Managers At Facility With COVID-19 Case Snapped Defying Social Distancing
Image via Shutterstock
Amazon has acknowledged that a worker from its fulfillment center in Jefferson, Indiana, has tested positive for COVID-19. The company confirmed the news after a voice note sent out to employees about the infection was obtained by Business Insider.
“This is your GM… calling to provide an update: Today we learned of a confirmed case of COVID-19 at SDF8,” stated the voice message sent out on 2 April. The sender of the note added that the affected employee was last on-site on 26 March.
What’s even more appalling is that, just before, an employee from the same facility had photographed three managers huddling around a table and flouting social distancing guidelines that were displayed on a nearby whiteboard.
Amazon says it will investigate after we obtained a photo appearing to show a lack of social distancing at Indiana warehouse - https://t.co/BRtqlVbDE0 photo obtained by Business Insider appears to show company managers sitting close together at a warehouse. Amazon says it's in... pic.twitter.com/fL968Aucgy
— David Raudales (@dfraudales) April 2, 2020
A notice on the whiteboard read, “Your safety is our highest priority. Please work together to ensure social distancing is happening.”
The worker who took the photo said it was captured on 31 March, and requested to remain anonymous. They also said that a sight like this was “normal” in the warehouse. “They’re at that table every day, all day long, sometimes more than three of them. And nobody’s saying anything to them,” the employee elaborated.
Meanwhile, personnel would be “risking our lives for a pair of tennis shoes,” the worker said, adding that employees of the facility don’t have a habit of wearing gloves or regularly washing their hands. “It’s a breeding ground for the virus,” they said.
Amazon told the publication that all of its facilities have implemented safety measures, and situations where employees have been found to go against social distancing rules “will be immediately investigated.” Aside from enforcing social distancing guidelines, the company halted “stand-up” meetings in mid-March.
Amazon declared that employees in close proximity of the affected individual will be notified and placed on a 14-day self-quarantine. Personnel on quarantine or who have tested positive for the coronavirus will also be paid two weeks of wages.
[via Business Insider, cover image via Shutterstock]
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