“If people lose their lives, I don’t think the minimum amount is enough. It’s not realistic,” said Lyn Coop.
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois — A newly formed state task force will soon begin investigating Illinois’ warehouse safety standards.
This is in response to the December 2021 Amazon collapse that killed six people.
December 10th, 2021 is the day Carla and Lynn Corp said they would never forget.
“I remember going there and seeing all the rescue vehicles,” Carla Cope said.
His son Clay and five colleagues lost their lives when an EF-3 tornado hit the Amazon warehouse where they worked.
“It’s always been one of my biggest fears,” Lynn said.
“They said they had shelter, but they weren’t even trained to know where to go,” Carla said. “It was apparently chaos that night.”
After the collapse, OSHA issued a “Hazard Alert Letter” to Amazon. Amazon declined to disclose the company’s location, but the letter detailed how the company’s emergency procedures met federal minimum safety guidelines.
“They met the bare minimum standards and people lost their lives,” Lin said. “I don’t think the minimum amount is enough if people lose their lives. It’s not realistic.”
With building codes set to expire in 2025, Illinois recently created a Warehouse Safety Task Force to review these policies.
Having applied to join the Warehouse Safety Task Force after retiring from warehouse work, Rin believes they know where to start.
“I hope there will be more places for people to go and safer places,” Lin said. “It can be a versatile place to go to find shelter.”
“If it’s fortified, it can be a lunchroom,” Carla said.
Illinois has set a January 1, 2025 deadline for the task force to issue its recommendations, but Cope says something needs to happen sooner if the state is serious about safety. I believe.
“Tornados always pass through here,” Carla said. “Two years is just a task force. It could take him five years from now to complete. How many more times will this happen before they say they know?”
Rep. Katie Stewart of Edwardsville is a member of a 16-member committee made up of legislators, local business and labor leaders.
She contacted the Cope family after 5 On Your Side told her that Lynn was interested in joining the task force and lending his expertise.
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