every single one of us (employees of large companies) are completely and wholly expendable in the eyes of the people who run the companies we work for, when compared against potentially lost profit.
we all know this. we work at these places anyway because there are no places to work which are not like this.
not only are we expendable, we only have the tiny value that we have as assets because the law strongly encourages employers to view us as having some value. if the risk of profit loss outweighs the risk of paying to recover from personnel loss, people are gonna regularly die working for that company. leadership doesn't even call things like this "loss" but the "cost of doing business".
> 14 people died at an Amazon facility
This is false. From the article that you linked:
> Even as floods that have killed at least 14 swept through the city, warehouses remained open.
Unless you think every business should shut down every time there is a tornado watch issued, which hell they issue those like candy the entirety of spring and summer around here we would never get anything done if we shut down for every tornado watch
The question should be: was there a tornado warning, and was there any employee not in a tornado room?
I am not sure how you think that disproves some of the comments in and around this thread saying people were "not allowed to call in" or "why was the facility open" or other things like that
Warnings happen minutes before, and last 15-30 mins, maybe an hour. These are not long lasting events.
Notice you did not say that your workplace "shut down" or "told employees to go home" or anything like that
They are to shelter in place, Arriving employee go to the shelter, employee getting off shift are prohibited from leaving. That is normal procedure at most companies
See my comment here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29526164
It was mandatory where I worked too. That most people didn't seek shelter was not a fault of the employer.
Yes, you can't force everyone, but I would bet that most people would take shelter given the right incentives/exception from negative consequences.
As I said, people are people. Most people I know drive over the speed limit, because everyone does it, and because the likelihood of it hurting them is low. Same principle here. I'm all for everyone going to the shelter, just as I'm all for severe penalties for going over the speed limit. Most people, though, are OK going over the speed limit but not OK with people not sheltering when there's a tornado. It's almost always the case that such people have never lived in a tornado zone and cannot comprehend the dynamics of the situation.
Funny you say that. One my my current responsibilities is chemical safety (it's written in the offer letter), and recently I contributed to a colleague getting called on the carpet by HR. I have no doubt that were there any serious injuries in any laboratory HR and counsel would wish to talk to me, and I have no desire for such a conversation.
You definitely don't know this. Please don't speak to the mindset of people that just died when you have no idea.