Amazon warehouse workers in Colorado were forced to work next to the body of a deceased colleague

On the morning of December 27th at Amazon DEN4 warehouse in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 61-year-old Rick Jacobs died at work after suffering a heart attack just before his shift. What happened next angered his former colleagues, reports TheGuardian.

Photo: IStock

Witnesses say a makeshift fence around the deceased worker using large cardboard boxes was erected to block off the area at the shipping site where the incident took place. Workers criticized management's behavior and lack of information regarding the incident. Amazon denied the boxes were used to cordon off the area, but said managers stood around to make sure no one got close for privacy and security purposes.

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When the workers arrive for their day shift, they say they weren't notified of what was going on. They continued to work as usual while the deceased colleague remained at the facility and rescuers waited for the arrival of the coroner.

“Having learned what happened, I felt very uncomfortable, as there is a blatant disregard for human emotions in this institution. Management could give employees a day off so they don't have to use their own personal day off. But no, that didn’t happen,” said an Amazon employee in the warehouse working the day shift.

“No one should have been forced to work near the dead body, especially after people witnessed the incident. The day shift starts at 7:00 or 7:30 and we were not informed until we got to where it happened. There were no warnings. No consultant on site. Just a leaflet released a few days later informing us how to get mental health counselling,” he says.

In a phone call, an Amazon spokesperson said the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) laws and privacy concerns of the deceased's family mean the company cannot reveal details about a person or incident. They disputed allegations that someone was working near the body or that boxes were used to cordon off the area. They declined to comment, citing confidentiality and respect for the deceased.

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Amazon did not comment on what protocols the company has in place for these incidents or what resources were made available to workers immediately after the event or subsequently.

Another Amazon warehouse worker said police and fire trucks were in the warehouse when they arrived at work in the morning, but were not told why. Later, he learned from colleagues that a worker had died on the previous shift.

“I was immediately angry that we were doing business as usual and there was a dead person in a remote area and I had to hear about it in the break room,” said the worker, who wished to remain anonymous due to fears of problems at work. “Why are we still working as normal when someone is dead downstairs?” I was angry that they thought our lives didn't matter, that they were going to push people out of the way to get the package out."

The workers criticized the lack of transparency and the management's response. They were not provided with any information for a week after the incident. Workers were also outraged by the lack of standard operating procedures for such incidents, given that other workers have died in Amazon warehouses in the past.

A week after the incident, the worker said management finally approached them at a meeting on January 4th. They left feeling dissatisfied - there were no constructive explanations and no sense of management responsibility.

“What pisses me off is the lack of respect for human life. We are closed for a technical break. Do you think we couldn't show a little respect and shut down long enough to at least get the body out of the facility and clean up after it before people loiter around like nothing's happening?" the worker said.

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“This is not the first death at an Amazon facility. Amazon is a huge corporation. There must be protocols. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s the first death or the tenth. There should be protocols on what to do in such cases. Maybe while the investigation is ongoing, the body is lying there, we can stop the work process?” said another worker.

Amazon has seen numerous worker deaths in recent years, including three deaths in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2022. Amazon has faced scrutiny of working conditions due to the company's high injury rate, staffing errors and high employee turnover.

Another DEN4 worker said he was supposed to report to work the day after the incident, but used his personal leave after hearing about what had happened from other workers.

“I refused to work due to circumstances and out of respect for the deceased person,” the worker said.

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