Amazon reportedly paused plans to reinstate a ban on warehouse workers having phones after 6 died in a tornado
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Shona Ghosh
Dec 19, 2021, 18:27 IST
An employee handles packages at the Amazon's Bretigny-sur-Orge warehouse in France.THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images
Amazon won't reinstate a ban on workers having phones in its warehouses, Bloomberg reported.
The company had permitted phones during the pandemic, but planned to reinstate the ban next month.
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Amazon is reportedly rethinking plans to reinstate a ban on its warehouse workers having smartphones at work, after at least six of its workers died in a tornado this month.
Some warehouse workers received messages that the ban wouldn't come in "until further notice," Bloomberg reported Saturday and confirmed with a spokesperson. Insider has contacted Amazon for comment.
Amazon's warehouse workers have previously recounted to Insider that they must put phones, wallets, and other personal items in lockers before going to work.
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But, according to Bloomberg, plans to renew the ban in January changed after the death of six Amazon workers at a facility in Edwardsville, Illinois whose roof and wall collapsed in a tornado on December 11.
The company has defended itself. Its retail boss Dave Clark wrote in an internal memo, seen by Insider, that "fast action saved lives."
And in a previous statement, a spokesperson said the firm followed federal tornado safety guidelines by acting as quickly as it could to get employees to shelter inside the building.
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