The BBC recently found that employees at a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness."
Billy Joel once sang that working too hard can give you a heart attack. And according to a BBC investigation into a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse, that just might be the case.
The news agency this week alleged that employees at the warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness."
Based on video footage collected by undercover reporter Adam Littler, working as a "picker" who collects orders from 800,000 square feet of storage, the BBC reported rough conditions at the Amazon fulfillment center. During one night shift, Littler was expected to walk about 11 miles in total and collect orders every 33 seconds. When he took too long, a handset he carried would beep.
"We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves," Littler said in the BBC report. "We don't think for ourselves, maybe they don't trust us to think for ourselves as human beings, I don't know."
The BBC also consulted Prof. Michael Marmot of the University College London, who said that working conditions at the warehouse were "all the bad stuff at once." Marmot claimed based on the evidence Littler presented that the requirements of the picker job would lead to an increased risk of illness or physical injury.
"There are always going to be menial jobs, but we can make them better or worse. And it seems to me the demands of efficiency at the cost of individual's health and well-beingit's got to be balanced," Marmot said.
Amazon strongly refuted the charges made in the BBC report.
"The safety of our associates is our No. 1 priority, and we adhere to all regulations and employment law," the U.K. arm of the company said in a statement.
Amazon has reportedly added an average of 12 percent to annual base pay for its U.K. warehouse workers in the past five years, boosting a two-year associate's salary to £8.98 per hour for a day shift, or £10.78 per hour for working nights. Litter, who was new to the position, began at a daily rate of £6.50, and was bumped to £8.25 when he opted for the night shift.
Once, after the 10.5-hour shift during which he walked nearly 11 miles, Littler said he was "absolutely shattered" from physical exhaustion.
"Amazon has retained an independent expert who has visited our buildings and associates," the online retail giant continued in its defense. "In the independent expert's opinion, a picking role is similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness.
"We understand that our progress depends on good execution and good judgment from thousands of employees. Together, we're working hard to make sure that we are better tomorrow than we are today."
According to the BBC, Amazon has invested £1 billion in the U.K. and created 5,000 permanent jobs.
Amazon isn't the only company that's been scrutinized for its working conditions. Main Apple manufacturer Hon Hai (a.k.a. Foxconn) has made headlines for employee suicides and riots based on poor conditions  a problem the company is reportedly slowly fixing.