this was an interesting point that I hadn't seen in other coverage:
A researcher who studies the warehouse industry and the pressure put on Amazon workers to meet strict productivity quotas said even if Amazon’s team did everything right in responding to a devastating tornado, it raises the question about the structure of enormous warehouses popping up across the Midwest as some climate experts warn of more frequent severe storms.
“We don’t think of warehousing as one of the industries that’s going to be severely impacted by climate change but then you have a case like this,” said Beth Gutelius, research director at the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois-Chicago. “How do we make sure the facilities are built in a way to best protect the workers inside?”
About ten minutes before, wasn't it? In which case he absolutely shouldn't have been leaving, because a tornado big enough to wreck a warehouse with 11 inch thick walls is easily big enough to...
About ten minutes before, wasn't it? In which case he absolutely shouldn't have been leaving, because a tornado big enough to wreck a warehouse with 11 inch thick walls is easily big enough to throw his car off the road or drop a building on him. I don't know exactly what they were told, but it does matter - there's a world of difference between "don't leave, you have to keep working" and "don't leave, it's not safe to be outside"
I'm not sure how true this is but I saw a few people saying that guy was a driver, not a floor worker. So Amazon telling him not to leave is the exact opposite of trying to make him keep working! There was a tornado warning in effect. Not leaving was what people were supposed to do. The question of whether Amazon's tornado shelter was up to standard is a slightly different thing but purely from a heartless accounting point of view, building not to local codes is a pain in the arse for insurance, so it's very possible they didn't cut that particular corner.
Look, I hate Amazon for many reasons and a lot about them really, really needs to change - but from what I can tell after reading a couple of news reports, they pretty much did the right thing here, it was just shitty luck that a big tornado touched down on top of their warehouse. If those workers had been at home and the tornado landed on their houses instead, they'd have been just as dead or injured.
This reddit thread has lots of commentary and links to other sources and while I don't doubt Amazon are going full guns on the PR for this disaster, I'm not sure they're all that interested in astroturfing reddit to quite the degree they'd need to for every post to be propaganda.
I ranted about this for a good while and in my rant I used the word "philanthropist". Now, english is my second language, so I googled "philanthropist" to check my spelling. Guess who was looking...
I ranted about this for a good while and in my rant I used the word "philanthropist".
Now, english is my second language, so I googled "philanthropist" to check my spelling.
Guess who was looking right at me on that search results page?
I am utterly disgusted. I don't understand why people keep buying shit from this fully evil entity.
OSHA has opened an investigation
this was an interesting point that I hadn't seen in other coverage:
One of the workers who was killed reportedly texted his girlfriend "Amazon won't let us leave" before the tornado struck.
About ten minutes before, wasn't it? In which case he absolutely shouldn't have been leaving, because a tornado big enough to wreck a warehouse with 11 inch thick walls is easily big enough to throw his car off the road or drop a building on him. I don't know exactly what they were told, but it does matter - there's a world of difference between "don't leave, you have to keep working" and "don't leave, it's not safe to be outside"
I'm not sure how true this is but I saw a few people saying that guy was a driver, not a floor worker. So Amazon telling him not to leave is the exact opposite of trying to make him keep working! There was a tornado warning in effect. Not leaving was what people were supposed to do. The question of whether Amazon's tornado shelter was up to standard is a slightly different thing but purely from a heartless accounting point of view, building not to local codes is a pain in the arse for insurance, so it's very possible they didn't cut that particular corner.
Look, I hate Amazon for many reasons and a lot about them really, really needs to change - but from what I can tell after reading a couple of news reports, they pretty much did the right thing here, it was just shitty luck that a big tornado touched down on top of their warehouse. If those workers had been at home and the tornado landed on their houses instead, they'd have been just as dead or injured.
This reddit thread has lots of commentary and links to other sources and while I don't doubt Amazon are going full guns on the PR for this disaster, I'm not sure they're all that interested in astroturfing reddit to quite the degree they'd need to for every post to be propaganda.
I ranted about this for a good while and in my rant I used the word "philanthropist".
Now, english is my second language, so I googled "philanthropist" to check my spelling.
Guess who was looking right at me on that search results page?
I am utterly disgusted. I don't understand why people keep buying shit from this fully evil entity.