Nearly 1 in 5 Amazon Delivery Contractors Injured in 2021, New Report Shows

Nearly 1 in 5 Amazon Delivery Contractors Injured in 2021, New Report Shows

The report shows a jump in injuries from 2020 to 2021.

  • By Alex Saurman
  • May 26, 2022

A new report by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) determined the injury rate for Amazon delivery contractors, or “Delivery Service Partners” (DSPs), in 2021 was higher than the previous year.

According to the report, there are three types of Amazon delivery system workers: direct employees who work in facilities, gig workers and DSPs. It’s estimated that DSPs account for about 50 percent of Amazon’s delivery system workers. 

The injury rate of DSP drivers in 2021 was 18.3 per 100 workers, or almost one out of every five workers. In 2020, the injury rate was only 13.3 per 100 workers. Delivery workers directly employed by Amazon faced injuries at a rate of 8.5 per 100 workers in 2021. The industry average was 7.6 per 100 workers.

Serious injury rates for DSP drivers also increased in 2021. That year, 14.2 serious injuries, when workers “either cannot perform their regular job functions (light duty) or are forced to miss work entirely,” occurred per 100 workers. In 2020, 9.7 serious injuries occurred per 100 workers.

According to the report, DSP injury data is not reported by Amazon, therefore researchers compared the data reported directly by 201 DSPs. Amazon reported in 2021 that it worked with 2,000 DSPs.

Earlier in 2022, SOC released a report about injury rates inside Amazon warehouses. In 2021, the serious injury rate for Amazon warehouse workers was 6.8 per 100 workers.

SOC is an alliance including Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Communications Workers of America and United Farmworkers of America. It represents over 4 million workers.

Photo credit: Fabio Principe / Shutterstock.com

About the Author

Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.

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