An Amazon employee at the Troutdale, Oregon warehouse passed away at work last week, a company spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.
According to a report from the Western Edge, an independent investigative outlet covering the Pacific Northwest, the worker collapsed on the floor at the PDX9 warehouse and lay dead as employees continued to work around him.
“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 touch with his family and have provided resources to support them. For employees at our PDX9 facility, we’ve provided onsite grief counselors and additional support. We’re thankful for the work of the Multnomah County Sherrif’s Department and local emergency medical services.”
On a Reddit forum for Amazon fulfillment center workers, several people claiming to work at PDX9 said that the building had been especially hot after soundproof curtains were installed, which limited airflow. They speculated that the heat could have contributed to the employee’s death, as it would compound the physical demands of fulfillment center work. According to the Western Edge, some employees noticed that the building was cooler when they returned to work the next day.
Amazon, however, said that Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined the incident to be non-work related. Employees were sent home early and were paid for the remainder of their shift; the night shift was cancelled, and employees scheduled to work were paid as well, according to the company.
The PDX9 warehouse has a reputation for having harsh working conditions; in 2018, an investigation from Reveal, an investigative journalism outlet, found that 26% of employees at the warehouse had sustained injuries. A report based on 2024 OSHA data showed that the company’s fulfillment centers report serious injuries at a rate more than two times the warehouse industry average.
Amazon’s fulfillment centers have been subject to several probes by federal agencies and prosecutors over warehouse safety, with investigators alleging that the company manipulated data and failed to properly document workplace injuries. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is conducting an ongoing investigation into workplace safety at Amazon warehouses.
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Amazon told TechCrunch that the company has seen a 43% reduction in its global recordable incident rate since 2019 — a metric that tracks any work-related injury requiring more than basic first aid. The company said it has invested more than $2.5 billion in safety improvements since 2019, including hundreds of millions of dollars in 2026 alone.
