Amazon faces fine for shipping corrosive drain cleaner

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Amazon.com, Inc often referred to as Amazon is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States. Amazon is now in hot soup again facing a $350,000 (Ksh. 35,000,000) fine for allegedly shipping hazardous chemicals that injured delivery workers.

Reported today by BBC is that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed the fine, accusing the firm of breaching rules by sending a corrosive drain cleaner by air. Nine UPS employees complained of burns after handling the package after the substance leaked, the authority said.

Amazon said it would work with the FAA to improve its processes.

According to the authority, Amazon sent a package containing a one-gallon container of the corrosive drain cleaner "Amazing! LIQUID FIRE" from Kentucky to Colorado via UPS in October 2014. FAA Accused Amazon of failing to package the shipment properly and said the box did not have the correct labeling or documentation and also said that the firm's staff who handled it were not properly trained.

"Amazon has a history of violating the Hazardous Materials Regulations. From February 2013 to September 2015 alone, Amazon was found to have violated the Hazardous Materials Regulations 24 times. The FAA is continuing to investigate Amazon's compliance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations applicable to air transportation," 

 it said. 

 

The Reuters news agency reported that the FAA has sought a total of nearly $1.3m in fines as a result of those instances. In at least 15, hazardous material leaked, the FAA said in its notice of violation. A spokesman for the authority told Reuters that it is not clear how many times Amazon has paid fines or admitted responsibility because the FAA does not announce fines of less than $50,000.

According to Reuters, Amazon declined to answer questions but said, 

"We ship tens of millions of products every day and have developed sophisticated technologies to detect potential shipping hazards and use any defects as an opportunity for continuous improvement. We will continue to partner with FAA in this area."

An answer or report is being awaited from Amazon about this matter. Please share your comments below and don't forget to share this article.

Related Links: Google wins six-year legal battle with Oracle, thanks to ‘fair use’ clause | Microsoft sues U.S. government over data requests