CARTERET, N.J. (1010 WINS) — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency tasked with monitoring labor conditions in the U.S., announced it is investigating three fatal workplace accidents in New Jersey Amazon facilities that took place between July 13 and Aug. 4.
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The first incident happened during Prime Day, Amazon’s annual sales event that is notoriously hard on workers.
On July 13, a worker died at the company’s EWR9 fulfillment center in Carteret.
Amazon insists the Prime Day death wasn’t work related, though House Rep. Donald Norcross called the company’s credibility into question and suggested the public wait on OSHA’s investigation to draw conclusions.
“Amazon clearly has a vested interest in putting the correct spin on this. It's their reputation,” he told Gothamist. “OSHA has no incentive to do anything but [seek] the truth and find out what happened to prevent any kind of injury or death in the workplace from happening again.”
Eleven days later, a worker suffered fatal injuries at the PNE5 Amazon facility in Robbinsville.
The worker died three days after the accident on July 27, according to OSHA.
On Aug. 4, another worker died at the DEY6 delivery station in Monroe Township.
Neither Amazon nor OSHA have publicly identified the workers who died or their cause of death, though the Robbinsville Police Department said the second incident resulted from a worker falling off a three-foot ladder and hitting his head.
The worker was reportedly treated at Capital Health Regional Health Center and died three days later.
OSHA has six months to investigate each death.
Amazon did not respond to 1010 WINS request for comment, though a spokesperson for the company told NJ.com that "each of these tragic incidents have affected our team greatly, and we are providing resources for families and employees who need them."
The spokesperson also said Amazon is cooperating with the OSHA investigations.
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