> Amazon centres in Dunfermline and Bristol had the most ambulance callouts in Britain, listing 161 and 125 across the period respectively.
In Dunfermline, that's two to three ambulances a month; in Bristol it's one every other week
> In 2018, a freedom of information request from the GMB union found that a Tesco warehouse in Rugeley, near Birmingham, recorded only eight ambulance callouts in three years versus the 115 logged at a nearby Amazon site. Both warehouses employed large numbers of workers at the time – 1,300 at Tesco’s site and around 1,800 at Amazon’s.
Noted in the Vice article linked from the article:
> The Asos warehouse in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, had the highest number of ambulance call-outs of the four brands. Between 2014 and 2019, there were 231 ambulance call-outs to the building. Almost three-quarters (72.2 percent) of call-outs resulted in the worker taken to hospital for further treatment.
231 is higher than the Amazon Dunfermline center, but it also notes the Asos warehouse employs 3000 people, while Articles elsewhere indicate the Amazon center employs 1200. Amazon's per call rate is around one call per 26 employees per year, while Asos's is one call per 64 employees per year.
Notably, 2.5 ambulances a month to a warehouse employing 1200 people indicates an about 2.5% chance of any given employee needing an ambulance over the course of a full year.
> A spokesperson for Amazon said it “strongly refutes the suggestion that it is ‘dangerous’ to work for Amazon. Safety is always the absolute priority”. They also denied the GMB claim that ambulances were sometimes not called: “As a responsible employer, we will always call an ambulance if someone requires emergency medical attention.”
> The spokesperson said the figures were misleading, citing the huge size of Amazon’s workforce and the fact that it logs, in its self-reported data, 50% fewer injuries with the HSE on average than other transportation and warehousing businesses.
> They added that the “vast majority” of ambulance callouts related to “pre-existing conditions, not work-related incidents” and that Amazon “will always call an ambulance if someone requires medical attention”.
If Amazon is more willing to call an ambulance for smaller things...
(not defending Amazon, just stating that if there's a lower threshold to call an ambulance)
This is somewhat addressed in the article, although only a single data point.
> In 2018, a freedom of information request from the GMB union found that a Tesco warehouse in Rugeley, near Birmingham, recorded only eight ambulance callouts in three years versus the 115 logged at a nearby Amazon site. Both warehouses employed large numbers of workers at the time – 1,300 at Tesco’s site and around 1,800 at Amazon’s.
(Removed an incorrect comment about a lack of comparisons.)