Amazon reportedly paused plans to reinstate a ban on warehouse workers having phones after 6 died in a tornado

• Amazon won't reinstate a ban on workers having phones in its warehouses, Bloomberg reported.
• The company had permitted phones during the pandemic, but planned to reinstate the ban next month.

Amazon is reportedly rethinking plans to reinstate a ban on its warehouse workers having smartphones at work, after at least six of its workers died in a tornado this month.

Some warehouse workers received messages that the ban wouldn't come in "until further notice," Bloomberg reported Saturday and confirmed with a spokesperson. Insider has contacted Amazon for comment.

Amazon's warehouse workers have previously recounted to Insider that they must put phones, wallets, and other personal items in lockers before going to work.

Insider's Isobel Asher Hamilton reported in March 2020 that Amazon started allowing workers to access their phones on the warehouse floor during the pandemic, in case of emergencies.

But, according to Bloomberg, plans to renew the ban in January changed after the death of six Amazon workers at a facility in Edwardsville, Illinois whose roof and wall collapsed in a tornado on December 11.

Federal regulators are investigating the incident, and Insider obtained a 911 call transcript that uncovered chaos at the scene, with workers told to shelter in bathrooms rather than the warehouse's designated tornado shelter.

Amazon has been criticized for its handling of the incident, with reports stating workers were denied permission to leave as the tornado approached.

The company has defended itself. Its retail boss Dave Clark wrote in an internal memo, seen by Insider, that "fast action saved lives."

And in a previous statement, a spokesperson said the firm followed federal tornado safety guidelines by acting as quickly as it could to get employees to shelter inside the building.