Amazon’s regional air freight hub in San Bernardino was cited three times by Cal/OSHA for endangering workers amid heat that topped 100 degrees last summer, according to newly available documents from the state agency.
The citations issued last month to the 2535 E. 3rd. St. facility, otherwise known as KSBD, allege unsafe work conditions discovered during investigations that began July 28, 2023, and ended Jan. 19, 2024.
In one citation, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health said Amazon used the shadow under a Boeing 767-300 as shade in the ramp area for employees to take their “cool-down rest.” No chairs were available, the citation said, so workers were forced to remain standing.
Also see: Inland Empire warehouse workers say they’re sick of — and from — the heat
“The employer provided a van that was inadequate to accommodate the number of employees on recovery or rest periods so that they can sit in a normal posture, fully in the shade without having to be in physical contact with each other,” Cal/OSHA said.
Amazon is disputing the claims.
The problems were brought to light through a July 25 complaint filed with Cal/OSHA by workers at the San Bernardino facility who are members of the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United. The complaint prompted Cal/OSHA to conduct multiple inspections and on-site interviews with employees.
Regina Herrmann, who works on the ramp at the 658,500-square-foot air hub, said conditions last summer were “scary.”
“We work out on the tarmac without enough shade, and sometimes without enough water,” Hermann said in a statement. “We sometimes had to crouch or stand under the planes for shade. We knew we had to do something before someone was seriously injured.”
Each Cal/OSHA citation includes a penalty. They range from $375 for a lack of training to prevent heat-related illness and failing to remind workers to drink enough water, to $6,750 for failing to provide adequate shade for employees working outdoors.
They collectively amount to $14,625 and were due within 15 days of notification of the citations on Jan. 19, the agency said.
Amazon said it would appeal all three citations, according to Amazon spokeswoman Maureen Lynch Vogel in a statement issued Wednesday.
“Our heat-related safety protocols often exceed industry standards,” she said. “And in fact, we’re one of only a few companies to have air conditioning at our all of our fulfillment centers and air hubs, including KSBD.”
Vogel said fans and portable misters are provided for crews working on the outdoor ramp, along with air conditioning in vans, cooling towels, pallets of ice and more than 60 water coolers around the facility.
Inside, the facility has industrial fans on the ceiling to keep air flowing, and employee training on preventing heat-related illness is given. Workers are also encouraged to take cool-down breaks when needed, she said.
Housed on the former Norton Air Force Base, KSBD opened in March 2021. It operates about 14 daily flights that move products in and out of the 24-hour facility. Workers process prepackaged merchandise that’s trucked or flown in from other Amazon facilities and distributed to markets across the country.
Long-standing complaints
Heat-related complaints at the San Bernardino facility date back to at least September 2022, when employees took thermometers to work for seven days over the summer to document temperatures inside and outside the facilities. They claim their readings were well above Amazon’s temperature readings.
Employees recorded a temperature of 96 degrees inside cargo planes and tractor-trailers, and more than 110 on the tarmac. Inside the warehouse, they recorded a high of nearly 90 degrees.
Amazon didn’t say how many employees currently work at the San Bernardino air hub. But in September 2022, at least 500 of the roughly 1,400 people employed there were working outside on the tarmac.
Between March and May, an Inland Empire Amazon Workers United survey of 264 workers at the air hub found that 84% percent said they needed water, a cool place to rest and time to recover during the summer heat.
Employees at a hearing May 18 told Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board about heat-related ailments such as headaches, nose bleeds and nausea.
Tim Shadix, attorney and legal director of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, a nonprofit looking to improve work conditions in Southern California’s warehouse industry, said heat-related complaints at warehouses, fulfillment centers and similar facilities are common — but not always reported.
“It’s one of the biggest issues,” he said.
Shadix said the problems at Amazon’s San Bernardino air hub have been ongoing.
“Many members of Inland Empire Amazon Workers United have been complaining about the heat since the spring of 2022,” he said. “They even sent a delegation to top management at the facility.”
Managers told employees a shade structure would be built to provide relief from the intense summer heat, Shadix said, but nothing was in place last summer.
“I don’t know if they’ve fixed that, but they should,” he said. “Summer’s going to be rolling around before long.”
Staff writer Jeff Horseman contributed to this report.
