An Amazon employee has died on the job at an Oregon facility

An Amazon worker at a warehouse in Troutdale, Oregon died on the job last week, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.

According to a report from Western Edge, an independent investigative unit covering the Pacific Northwest, a worker fell to the ground in the PDX9 warehouse and fell to his death while workers continued to work around him.

“We are saddened by the passing of a member of our team, and our thoughts and sympathies are with their loved ones during this difficult time,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told TechCrunch. “We have reached out to his family and provided them with support services. To the staff of our PDX9 facility, we provided grief counselors and additional support. We are grateful for the work of the Multnomah County Sherrif’s Department and local emergency services.”

In a Reddit forum for Amazon fulfillment center workers, several people claiming to work at PDX9 said the building was overheating after soundproofing curtains were installed, which reduced airflow. They speculated that the heat would have contributed to the worker’s death, as it would have included the physical demands of the facility’s work. According to the Western Edge report, some workers noticed that the building was cooler when they returned to work the next day.

Amazon, however, said Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined the incident was not work-related. Workers were sent home early and paid for the remainder of their shift; the night shift was canceled, and the workers scheduled to work were paid, according to the company.

The PDX9 warehouse has a reputation for harsh operating conditions; in 2018, an investigation from Reveal, an investigative journalism unit, found that 26% of warehouse workers suffered injuries. A report based on OSHA data from 2024 showed that the company’s fulfillment centers are reporting serious injuries at twice the rate of the apparel industry average.

Amazon’s fulfillment centers have been the subject of several investigations by federal agencies and prosecutors over product safety, with investigators saying the company used 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.

Amazon told TechCrunch that the company has seen a 43% reduction in its rate of recorded incidents worldwide since 2019 — a metric that tracks any work-related injury that requires more than basic first aid. The company said it has invested more than $2.5 billion in security improvements since 2019, including hundreds of millions of dollars in 2026 alone.