Latest news with #warehouseSafety
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
After deadly Edwardsville tornado, Illinois lawmakers pass warehouse safety bill
Tucked away in the more than 400 bills Illinois state lawmakers passed during their spring session is a bill that aims to improve warehouse safety during a tornado. 'I was elated,' said Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who authored the bill, which stems from the Edwardsville tornado that killed six people in 2021. The legislation, which now awaits the governor's signature, mandates all warehouses in the state craft a tornado safety plan, build storm shelters in newly constructed warehouses and requires county and city building inspectors hold a certification from the International Code Council. The passage of the legislation in the last hours of the Illinois legislature's spring session marks a critical step in a more than three-year long journey to passing legislation in response to the tornado that flattened half of an Amazon warehouse. The ideas for the legislation were largely crafted in a task force state lawmakers created to study warehouse safety that concluded late last year. The family of Clayton Cope, one of the six people killed by the tornado, became regular attendees of task force meetings and advocated for the bill's passage. 'The wife and I are very excited that it has passed, and we're hopeful the governor will sign it. We'll be ecstatic if he does,' said Lynn Cope, Clayton's father. 'It's a wonderful step forward.' The safety plan requires all warehouse operators to prepare a tornado safety plan within 120 days of the bill being signed into law or no later than seven days after a new warehouse becomes operational. Plans must be specific to the warehouse, reviewed or updated once per year and should coordinate with the relevant local first responders and disaster agencies. This requirement stems from the findings of an investigation from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that followed the 2021 storm, which concluded some workers at the Amazon warehouse did not remember participating in tornado drills and others didn't know where to take cover. For warehouse safety proponents, the OSHA findings show that the warehouses need a storm safety plan. 'We want to make sure that we guarantee that there is one,' Stuart said. This bill also mandates warehouses constructed after the bill is signed into law meet a 'life safety performance level' to handle extreme weather events. In other words, warehouses must have a space to shelter from the expected weather and other types of natural disasters that could happen, Stuart said. 'You can have all the plans you want, but if you don't have a safe place to go, they don't do any good,' she said. While it was eventually recommended, requiring storm shelters had been a sticking point during the task force meetings, as some argued more stringent requirements could force businesses to leave Illinois. Lawmakers amended the bill, however, to only make requirements applicable for buildings that have regular activity — and not storage facilities or grain elevators, Stuart said. Some may argue this bill doesn't mandate enough changes, like requiring storm shelters be built in all warehouses. 'I wouldn't say I'm done with this work, and I will continue,' Stuart said. 'This was a step that we got to take this year, and it's moving us in the right direction.' The third portion of the bill will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. It amends Illinois' county and municipal code to require building inspectors hold a certification from International Code Council, the nonprofit trade organization that oversees building safety. Previously, a certification from the council was not required. The final bill enjoyed bipartisan support, passing 51-2 in the Senate and 99-15 in the House. 'It's one of those things where you hope it will never happen again, but you do have to be prepared,' said Rep. Amy Elik, R-Godfrey, whose district encompasses the Amazon warehouse that was destroyed and reopened last year. The May 16 tornado that ripped from St. Louis County through north St. Louis, killing five people, followed an eerily similar trajectory to the 2021 tornado in the Metro East. Four days later, the day the House took its first vote on the bill, Illinois lawmakers sheltered in the basement in the Capitol when a tornado warning was issued near Springfield. Both scenarios served as a reminder of this bill's necessity, lawmakers said. 'It's not a sexy topic, talking about building codes and what you're going to require in some of these warehouses,' said Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea. 'But Stuart's work and the work of the whole task force…I think they came up with a good result.' For the Cope family, the bill's passage is a sign that things can get better. 'It helps us — gives us some closure,' Lynn Cope said. 'It just helps in the healing process. It really does. Maybe this will help someone in the future. I don't know. You'll never know. I just hope it does. That's all we can ever hope for.' Gov. JB Pritzker's office said he will review the legislation.
Geek Wire
23-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Amazon shareholder revolt loses steam
In-depth Amazon coverage from the tech giant's hometown, including e-commerce, AWS, Amazon Prime, Alexa, logistics, devices, and more. GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop Amazon's latest shareholder results, released Thursday afternoon, show a continued decline in support for some high-profile environmental and social proposals. Measures on packaging waste and warehouse safety each received noticeably less backing than comparable resolutions did in prior years. It's a sharp change from 2022, when similar resolutions came close to passing. The trend signals waning momentum for activism among Amazon shareholders, despite ongoing scrutiny of its environmental impact and workplace practices. Amazon's board opposed all of the environmental and social resolutions, as it has in previous years, saying the proposals were unnecessary given the company's existing disclosures, policies, commitments, and progress on the underlying issues they raised. The company announced during its annual meeting Wednesday that none of the shareholder resolutions had passed, but the vote totals weren't disclosed until a regulatory filing today. Among the most striking results was a proposal calling for additional reporting on Amazon's use of plastic packaging, which drew 49% support in 2022 and 13.5% this year — a drop of more than 35 percentage points in three years. The top shareholder resolution for 2025 was a proposal on warehouse working conditions, with 22% support. However, that compared to 44% support for a similar resolution in 2022. A proposal on carbon emission reduction received 14% support, down from 15% in 2024. However, a separate proposal calling for a report on the climate impact of Amazon's growing data center operations — driven in part by AI — drew more attention and votes. It questioned whether the use of renewable energy credits can keep up with rising energy demands. The measure, backed by former Amazon employees associated with the advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, received 19.9% support — the second-highest among this year's shareholder proposals. That was despite strong opposition from the company and an unsuccessful attempt to block it from the ballot. In a statement after the vote, co-filer Eliza Pan, a former Amazon employee, criticized the company's disclosures, saying they fail to reflect the true environmental cost of its AI expansion. 'Amazon is hiding the massive impacts of its AI with misleading reporting,' she said. 'If the company is serious about its Climate Pledge, we need to know what's really happening.' All board-backed proposals were approved by shareholders, including an advisory vote on executive compensation, which received 78% support — up from 68% in 2023.
