#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #POLAND #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) We demand a thorough investigation into the death of D. Dziamski in Amazon magazine! - federacja-anarchistyczna Poland

 On December 16, OZZ Employee Initiative together with the widow of a deceased

employee organized a press conference at the district prosecutor's office. It
concerned the appeal against the prosecutor's decision to discontinue the
investigation into the death of Dariusz Dziamski's employee in Amazon magazine.
We accuse the prosecution of non-exhaustive consideration of the evidence. ---- *
The prosecution did not hear any witnesses of the aggrieved party. There was no
interview with any trade union representative. A reliable measurement of energy
expenditure in the position held by Dariusz Dziamski was not commissioned.
* The union believes that Amazon exposes employees to loss of health and life due
to improperly conducted occupational risk assessment. Amazon did not measure the
employee's energy expenditure (fatigue and effort levels) using the method
recommended by the National Labor Inspectorate.

* Already in 2018, the National Labor Inspectorate stated "shortcomings and the
risk of danger related to employees holding positions where the permissible
energy expenditure standards were almost twice exceeded." Amazon knows about the
exceedances, but does not re-test all positions and does not change working
conditions.

* Dariusz Dziamski repeatedly complained to the management about fatigue with
work and insufficient number of employees assigned to perform his work.

* The union does not agree with the employers' simplified definition of an
accident at work, which rejects the relationship between the employee's health
condition and working conditions. Long-term (e.g. several days) exhaustion of
employees resulting from exceeding the energy expenditure standards prescribed by
law may become a direct cause of an accident at work.

On September 6, one of the longtime employees of the warehouse, Dariusz Dziamski,
died at the Amazon warehouse located near Poznan. For the last two months, the
prosecutor's office "dealt" with the case. However, the investigation was
discontinued. We accuse the prosecution of non-exhaustive consideration of the
evidence. First of all, no witnesses of the aggrieved party were heard. There was
no interview with any trade union representative. A reliable measurement of
energy expenditure in the position where my husband Dariusz Dziamski worked was
not commissioned. - says Beata Dziamska. The prosecutor's office disregarded
these possibilities despite numerous media reports describing the context of the
employee's death and the related unlawful dismissal of M. Malinowska from work.

For many years, OZZ Employee Initiative has been accusing Amazon of exposing its
employees to loss of health and life due to improperly conducted occupational
risk assessment. The assessment does not take into account the measurement of
energy expenditure using the method recommended by Amazon National Labor
Inspectorate. The energy expenditure study shows the actual fatigue and effort of
the employee put into the performance of a given activity and is of colossal
importance for maintaining appropriate health and safety conditions. The method
used by Amazon consists only in estimating the level of energy expenditure, not
in measuring it, which endangers the health and even life of employees - says
Piotr Krzyzaniak, the representative of OZZ Inicjatywa Pracownicza.

The above issue was the reason for the issuing by the District Labor Inspector in
Rzeszów of two orders of May 2, 2018 regarding the delegation of employees to
other work in connection with a significant excess of energy expenditure
standards. The employer's complaints against these orders were dismissed by the
Provincial Administrative Court in Rzeszów by judgments of November 22, 2018.
Thecourt agreed with PIP, which stated "deficiencies and the risk of a risk
related to employees holding positions where the permissible standards of energy
expenditure were almost twice exceeded" adds an attorney. PiP ordered the
immediate transfer of employees at risk to other positions.

According to the Court: "Occupational health and safety standards are a guarantee
of employee rights. The employer is obliged to comply with them. If there is a
risk of exceeding these standards[energy expenditure standards]in relation to a
specific employee, he should take appropriate steps using, as correctly indicated
by the[PIP]authority, with: up-to-date tests carried out in the course of
inspections, changing the organization of work, applying technical and procedural
measures resulting in the improvement of the conditions of the activities
performed by a given employee, reduction of the physical load during the day ".

Three years have passed since the above judgment was delivered. Amazon knows its
content, research results and PiP's report. Nevertheless, the company still has
not carried out any activities that would make work in these and other positions
less burdensome. She also did not conduct a reliable and credible research on
energy expenditure in all positions. According to Magda Malinowska from OZZ
Inicjatywa Pracownicza, the company is putting employees' health and lives at
risk in the name of profits. The research carried out by PIP and approved by the
Court was grossly different from the estimates made by Amazon. The method used by
Amazon has been vehemently questioned. To this day, we do not know the actual
level of employee fatigue in most of the positions and how much the work affects
their health. We know, however, that Dariusz Dziamski is dead. We also know that
the lack of a properly conducted job risk assessment could have contributed to
his death. No one has charged Amazon for ignoring PIP's research, no one has
charged Amazon for ignoring the court's ruling, and now no one wants to settle
Amazon for the death of another employee.

Dariusz has repeatedly complained to the management about fatigue from work and
insufficient number of employees assigned to perform his work. Usually it was a
few people. In the run-up to Dariusz's death, he was doing his job alone, which
could have put his body overstrained.

Piotr Krzyzaniak draws attention to another very important issue: We also
disagree with the simplified definition of an accident at work used by employers,
which rejects the relationship between the employee's health condition and
working conditions. Long-term (e.g. several days) exhaustion of employees
resulting from exceeding the energy expenditure standards prescribed by law may
become a direct cause of an accident at work. As indicated by the Supreme Court
in the justification of the judgment of 4 October 2006, ref. No. II UK 40/06 (LEX
no. 309429), "For an event to be considered an accident at work, the simultaneous
occurrence of cause and effect is not required. Experience teaches that the cause
of an accident in connection with work, equated with the action of forces of
nature, movement of machines, external to the injured person,

We are used to the fact that, as a rule, prosecutors sweep employee cases under
the rug. We are used to the fact that our lives are worth nothing to them, and
when we demand justice, we become demanding hysterics. We have evidence that
working conditions at Amazon can damage our health. Dariusz is not the first
person to lose his life in the company's warehouse. We are also afraid that it
will not be the last. Amazon imposes working conditions not only in its
warehouses. The American giant has a significant impact on the shape of
employment relations and the interpretation of law throughout the world of work,
also in other industries. We cannot allow employment and working conditions to
revert to those known from the 19th century. We do not agree that workers lose
their health and even their lives in the name of the profits of the few.

https://ozzip.pl/informacje/wielkopolskie/item/2845-zadamy-rzetelnego-sledztwa-w-sprawie-smierci-d-dziamskiego-w-magazynie-amazon
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