Amazon brings in anti-virus measures after ‘hotbed’ claim as the online retail giant introduces face masks for workers and temperature checks
- Amazon has introduced coronavirus safety measures for all warehouse workers
- Firm will roll out temperature checks and face masks for its workers next week
- It will also start monitoring workers to check they are keeping two metres apart
Amazon is introducing coronavirus safety measures for all warehouse workers – after the Daily Mail exposed how the centres had become potential ‘hotbeds of contamination’.
The internet retail giant is to roll out temperature checks and face masks for front-line workers in Europe and the US by early next week.
It will also start monitoring workers to check they are keeping two metres apart.
Amazon’s business is booming as shop closures and the lockdown has seen internet shopping surge.
Pictured: Amazon workers at the firm’s Staten Island warehouse strike in demand that the facility be shut down and cleaned after one staffer tested positive for the coronavirus
But whistleblowers at two distribution plants told the Mail this week that they feared the virus would thrive due to a lack of hand sanitisers and non-enforcement of two-metre social distancing.
Amazon’s business is booming as shop closures and the lockdown has seen internet shopping surge.
But a worker at a factory in Doncaster, where up to 90 night shift workers sort parcels for delivery, said the lack of space means they have been told to keep just one metre apart from each other – not the two metres recommended by the Government and World Health Organisation (WHO) to stop the spread of the virus.
Workers who raised concerns were told ‘not now’. Amazon denied the claim.
The worker, who wished to be anonymous, said: ‘It’s a potential hotbed of contamination. There’s no separation, no social distancing. If it spreads around our warehouse it could spread around the whole country on these parcels.’
The internet retail giant is to roll out temperature checks and face masks for front-line workers in Europe and the US by early next week (Pictured: A warehouse in Fife)
It will also start monitoring workers to check they are keeping two metres apart (stock image)
A worker at a separate Amazon warehouse in Doncaster also said the two-metre rule was not being enforced, especially in the canteen.
They also said there was not enough hand sanitiser and staff were not given time to regularly to wash their hands.
‘Staff are dropping like flies because of illness but anyone who has to go home is mocked by the managers. They are hiring staff from all over to try to plug the gaps but this only increases the chances of spreading it.’
They added: ‘When anyone complains to the managers they make out you are crazy and tell you to get back on with your work.’
It comes as an Amazon worker at the company’s warehouse in Fife was yesterday reported to be in quarantine after contracting Covid-19.
The online shopping firm said it has been deep-cleaning areas of the building in Dunfermline and increased usual cleaning routines.
The retailer added it has been ‘supporting’ the individual as well as introducing ‘proactive’ measures to protect employees.
An Amazon spokeswoman said: ‘We are supporting the individual, who is now in quarantine.
‘Since the early days of this situation, we have worked closely with local authorities to proactively respond, ensuring we continue to serve customers while taking care of our associates and we’re following all guidelines from local officials about the operations of our buildings.
‘We have implemented proactive measures at our facilities to protect employees including increased cleaning at all facilities, maintaining social distance in the fulfilment centre and adding distance between drivers and customers when making deliveries.’