Amazon Worker Dies On Duty At Oregon Fulfillment Center, Staff Cite Poor Ventilation And Extreme Heat As Potential Contributors
A company spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that an Amazon employee died while working last week at the company’s PDX9 fulfillment warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon.
According to reporting from Western Edge — an independent investigative outlet covering the Pacific Northwest — the worker collapsed on the warehouse floor and remained there dead, while other employees continued their scheduled shifts working around his body.
“We’re deeply saddened by the passing of a member of our team, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their loved ones during this difficult time,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told TechCrunch. “We’ve been in direct contact with his family and connected them with support resources. For our team members at PDX9, we’ve brought on-site grief counselors and made additional mental health support available. We’re grateful for the quick response and work of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department and local emergency medical services.”
On a Reddit forum for Amazon fulfillment center employees, multiple users claiming to work at PDX9 shared that the facility has grown unusually hot after soundproof curtains were installed, which cut off building airflow. They speculated that the extreme indoor heat could have contributed to the employee’s death, as it amplifies the physical strain of warehouse fulfillment work. Per Western Edge’s reporting, multiple employees noticed the building was noticeably cooler when they returned to work the day after the incident.
Amazon, however, says Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruled the incident was non-work related. The company also confirmed that after the death, day shift employees were sent home early but received full pay for their entire scheduled shift. The full night shift was canceled, and all employees scheduled to work that shift were also paid in full.
The PDX9 warehouse has long held a reputation for harsh, unsafe working conditions. In 2018, an investigation by investigative journalism outlet Reveal found that 26% of employees at the facility had sustained work-related injuries. A 2024 report analyzing OSHA data found that Amazon’s fulfillment centers report serious injuries at a rate more than twice the average for the broader warehouse industry.
Amazon’s warehouse network is already the target of multiple probes by federal agencies and prosecutors over workplace safety standards. Investigators allege the company manipulates injury data and fails to properly document workplace injuries to hide poor safety outcomes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is currently conducting an ongoing investigation into workplace safety at Amazon warehouses across the country.
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For its part, Amazon told TechCrunch that the company has seen a 43% reduction in its global recordable incident rate (the metric that tracks work-related injuries requiring more than basic first aid) since 2019. The company says it has invested more than $2.5 billion in safety improvements across its network since 2019, including hundreds of millions of dollars in safety upgrades allocated for 2026 alone.
Amazon Worker Dies On Duty At Oregon Fulfillment Center, Staff Cite Poor Ventilation And Extreme Heat As Potential Contributors
