Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed

On September 18, 2011, The Morning Call newspaper published a landmark investigation exposing brutal working conditions at Amazon’s warehouse in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley). The investigation revealed that during summer 2011, workers collapsed from heat exhaustion in temperatures exceeding 100°F while Amazon stationed ambulances outside the facility rather than installing air conditioning or providing adequate cooling.

The Heat Crisis

The investigation documented systematic worker suffering during the summer of 2011. On June 2, 2011, a warehouse employee contacted OSHA to report that the heat index had reached 102°F and that 15 workers had collapsed. Workers described seeing paramedics bring people out of the warehouse in wheelchairs and on stretchers. One employee characterized the conditions as “working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair.”

The most severe conditions occurred on July 25, 2011, when a security guard reported temperatures exceeded 110°F. Workers on the third floor described being unable to breathe, with one stating: “I lasted two minutes, because I could not breathe up there.” Heat indices on July 21 ranged between 108-112°F.

Amazon’s Response: Ambulances, Not Air Conditioning

Rather than address the root cause by installing air conditioning, Amazon’s initial response was to hire paramedics to wait outside in ambulances. The Cetronia Ambulance Corps was stationed outside the facility during five days in June-July 2011, providing cooling and hydration assistance to between 20-30 workers and transporting approximately 15 people to hospitals. Six workers required emergency room treatment for heat-related conditions on the most severe day, though none required hospitalization.

Problems surfaced in May 2011 when Cetronia Ambulance Corps made several trips to the facility to treat workers, after which Amazon paid to have ambulances stationed in the parking lot on hot days. On June 10, 2011, an emergency room doctor at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest reported an “unsafe environment” to OSHA after treating Amazon workers.

OSHA Investigation and Aftermath

OSHA conducted an inspection on June 9, 2011, following worker complaints. However, the agency issued only recommendations rather than citations, suggesting Amazon reduce temperatures, provide hourly cool-area breaks, and increase monitoring. The warehouse employed approximately 1,600 workers at the time.

Significance and Pattern Establishment

This scandal marked one of the first major public exposures of Amazon’s systematic worker exploitation. The Morning Call investigation gained national attention and was picked up by major news outlets. The story established a pattern that would continue for over a decade: Amazon prioritizing operational efficiency and cost savings over worker safety and dignity.

Eight months after the story’s release, facing intense public pressure and regulatory scrutiny, Amazon officials finally announced they would spend $52 million to retrofit warehouses with air conditioning. However, the incident revealed the company’s fundamental approach to worker welfare—treating workers as disposable resources to be monitored, pushed to physical limits, and replaced rather than protected.

The scandal also demonstrated Amazon’s willingness to accept extreme worker suffering as a cost of doing business. The company’s decision to station ambulances outside rather than install cooling systems showed a calculated acceptance of worker injury as preferable to capital investment in safety infrastructure. This incident became a foundational example of Amazon’s “sweatshop” warehouse model that labor advocates would cite for years to come.