Ontario’s Labour Ministry is investigating after an Amazon warehouse employee died after returning from outside during a cold-weather alert.
A ministry spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the ministry was notified of the fatality at the warehouse in St. Thomas on Jan. 15, after a fire alarm sent workers outside.
“A worker was found unresponsive at their workstation,” the email said. “As the ministry’s investigation is ongoing, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”
An Amazon spokesperson acknowledged the incident in an email to The Epoch Times, saying the company is providing support to employees at the warehouse.
“We’re grieving the loss of our colleague, and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones,” Maureen Lynch Vogel said in the email. “We’re providing support to anyone at the site who may need it, including counseling services, and encouraging employees to use resources available to them via our Employee Assistance Program.”
“During the night of January 15th our friend Sheilla received the horrible news that her partner had a heart attack while at work and didn’t make it,” the fundraiser page said.
“Paulo and Sheilla were together for almost 25 years. He was a wonderful father, husband and son. He was pure joy, always sharing his jokes with everyone around.”
The fundraiser had over $20,000 raised by Jan. 20.
“This family lost their ground, their support and biggest love so abruptly,” the page said.
Mr. Bezerra was found dead following an incident in which the warehouse was cleared due to a fire alarm and employees were sent outside, where a cold weather alert had been issued by a local health unit.
“The Alert is in effect all day, overnight, and into tomorrow,” the notice on the health unit’s website said.
St. Thomas, a city in Elgin County, is about 28 kilometres south of the City of London in Middlesex County.
Amazon said the alarm sounded at 11:10 p.m. and the evacuation started immediately. Employees began returning inside after the building was cleared for re-entry at 11:27 p.m.
Ms. Vogel said the company won’t speculate on the cause of death but stated that “the incident itself does not appear to be work-related.”
“There’s nothing more important than our employees’ health and safety, which is why we ensured the site was evacuated quickly and provided warm weather kits to help keep employees warm and comfortable,” she said. “The site was cleared for re-entry about 16 minutes after the alarm sounded, and employees were encouraged to warm up in the break room before returning to their work stations.”
Amazon said some employees chose to sit in their vehicles while the warehouse was being cleared for re-entry. Warming kits provided to employees included a knit cap, tube socks, knit gloves, mylar blanket, and hand warmers, the email said.
When employees returned to the building, many spent about 45 minutes in the break room warming up before they went back to their workstations, including the deceased employee, Amazon said.
The company said that Mr. Bezerra collapsed near a water cooler by his workstation shortly after returning.
