U.S. tornado killed at least 6 people in Amazon's warehouse Warehouse Warehouse employees banned mobile phones in controversy

A deadly tornado in the United States on Friday night killed at least 100 people, and an Amazon warehouse near St. Louis became the eye of the storm, and part of the warehouse collapsed as a result of the tornado, leaving a ruin; 100 trucks originally parked outside the warehouse were wiped out.

U.S. media reports say that as of now, at least 6 employees of Amazon have died in a tornado. Employees who escaped the danger said they could not get in touch with people trapped in the warehouse because the trapped people could not carry mobile phones while working.

Rescue efforts have been stopped

According to official releases, Amazon's storage facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, was hit by a tornado around 8:38 p.m. Local fire chief James Whiteford said at least 45 Amazon employees had safely escaped from the rubble of the factory.

Whiteford said it was unclear how many workers were still missing because Amazon did not count the exact number of people working at the sorting and delivery center when the tornado struck. He also said the local community had given up hope of finding more survivors and that they would shift from rescue to reconstruction efforts that lasted for several days.

For those who have not been spared the natural disaster, some media quoted Amazon employees as saying that employees were restricted from using mobile phones in the warehouse, which caused them to be unable to get in touch with the outside world during the disaster, which also hindered their access to rescue. The tragedy also sparked discussion among employees and the outside world about the ban on mobile phones in Amazon's warehouses.

In many U.S. warehouses, including Amazon, the company is requiring employees not to bring their phones into designated areas for fear of some critical data information being leaked, that employees must go through security checks, and that unregistered phones be left in employee lockers.

A year ago, Amazon's refusal to address employee dissatisfaction with the use of mobile phone policies sparked heated discussions online. The first financial reporter found an explanation of the Amazon warehouse staff for the problem of mobile phone carrying on the U.S. Quora website.

First of all, it should be pointed out that not all amazon facilities prohibit the use of mobile phones or Bluetooth headsets, such as Amazon delivery stations, Prime Now centers and some sorting centers are allowed to carry mobile phones, but the Amazon warehouses involved in this tornado are indeed the main crux of the problem.

The main reason why many logistics companies prohibit mobile phones from entering the warehouse is twofold, one is that there may be signal interference and threaten the personal safety of workers. Because the warehouse has a large number of electronic devices and machines, if employees carry mobile phones or Bluetooth headsets, etc., they may interfere with the signals of these electronic devices and so on. The reason on the other hand is out of concern about data security, because most of the mobile phones that people use today are equipped with cameras, which may cause some outflow of information from companies related to warehouses.

"Top executives typically don't want employees to take photos, videos, or recordings of Amazon-specific robots or inventions, warehouse layouts, or information related to unpublished products or services." An Amazon warehouse worker wrote on Quora.

Another Amazon employee, in response to a question on Quora about whether mobile phones are allowed to be brought into the warehouse area, said: "Normally, for most employees working there, mobile phones are not allowed to enter the building through security. If you accidentally bring your phone in, the metal detector will report it to the regional manager after it is detected. If this happens only occasionally, then the employee may receive a warning, but if it happens all the time, the employee may face dismissal. ”

Tragedy is not the first time it has happened

In the information age, mobile phones have become a necessary tool for people to communicate. Back in the 1990s, warehouse workers were allowed to carry their phones when their functionality was limited to making phones, as managers considered that emergencies would indeed occur. But when cameras began to appear in most phone features, business managers began to worry about potential data security issues, such as the risk of information captured by employees being shared on the Internet.

To this end, it has been suggested that if warehouse workers really need to use mobile phones to communicate with the outside world, then they can register a mobile phone with no camera and network functions with the company, and get special labels to safely pass the security equipment every time.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Amazon warehouses have been hit by tornadoes. In 2018, two U.S. Amazon warehouse workers also died in a tornado in Baltimore after some buildings collapsed.

In the wake of the latest warehouse collapse, Amazon declined to comment on its mobile phone policy, saying the focus now is on helping first responders on the ground and supporting employees and partners involved. However, some employees have said that if the company cannot protect the safety of employees and refuses to formulate a new mobile phone use policy, then it will consider resigning.

"Carrying a mobile phone can help us monitor weather conditions in sudden emergencies, and in the event of bad weather, we want to be able to make immediate decisions about action instead of waiting." An Amazon warehouse worker in Indiana said in an interview with the media.

Amazon said that when a site learns of a tornado warning in the area, it typically notifies and instructs all employees to move to designated, marked, in-place shelters. The company also said that when it provides emergency response training for new employees, it already provides relevant rescue knowledge, and it strengthens the popularization of rescue every year.

Amazon founder Bezos, who has left the CEO, also took to social media to express concern about the latest incident. "The Amazon team will support employees and will accompany them in this crisis," he said. ”

Earlier in the day, Bezos welcomed six space travelers back in Texas aboard the Blue Origin spacecraft New Shepard, the company's third manned space mission.