Amazon asked to assess insect invasion risks

GMB, the union for staff at Amazon, is calling on the company to conduct as a matter of urgency a risk assessment of the dangers to the health and safety of staff and potential damage to the UK economy of insect invasion in wood and other packaging of goods imported from abroad.

 

This call arises after a GMB member employed by Amazon in one of the depots fell ill after handling packaging on goods imported into the UK.  The member is convinced that the illness is linked to insects carried in the packaging.

 

Amazon employs 7,000 permanent staff and about 10,000 casual staff in the UK. It also employs 5,000 seasonal staff. Amazon has operations in Croydon, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Gourock, Hemel Hemstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley, Swansea, Slough and Holborn in London. The vast majority of the 22,000 staff are paid £6.39 per hour with the permanent staff starting on £7 per hour.

 

Amazon plans to double the number of warehouses it operates in Britain in the next three years.

 

GMB has being warning the public that the high tech way Amazon process orders and tracks inventory disguises that it is also a traditional labour intensive mail order retail business. 

Jeff Beck, GMB Regional Officer in South Wales, said "Amazon is in denial that insect invasion is even possible. GMB is not expert in this field but are aware that this stance is not sustainable.

 

In May 2014 the Ecological Society of America showed that the emerald ash borer has been carried into North America in recent times with the wooden packing material of imported goods. They said it is projected to cause over a billion dollars in damages annually over the next decade.

 

Scientists have called for treatment to prevent wood borer introduction and say it is worthwhile when the cumulative damages of widening infestations are considered. This is but one example on insect invasion. There is evidence of others too.

 

GMB want Amazon to undertake a proper risk assessment, involving proper experts in the field of insect invasion and health professionals, to come to conclusions on the threats invasions pose to the health and safety of members in their warehouses and to the wider economy.

 

GMB want to see Amazon specify that suppliers and shippers use packaging materials that have been properly treated to prevent insect invasion".