<p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5f7b5c01282c500018c78a50-2400/2020-07-16t115322z_1_lynxnpeg6f12j_rtroptp_4_indonesia-tax-digital.jpg" border="0" alt="FILE PHOTO: An employee of Amazon walks through a turnstile gate inside an Amazon Fulfillment Centre (BLR7) on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, September 18, 2018. REUTERS/ Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo" data-mce-source="Reuters"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Amazon has rolled out on-site COVID-19 testing to workers at its California-based Lab126 hardware devices unit, the first-known use of its in-house testing program for office employees and a sign the company is expanding it beyond its warehouse and data centers.</p><p>The testing, which started last month, follows internal complaints by a group of Lab126 engineers who had raised safety concerns over having to come into the office in December, when the state of California had put in tighter stay-at-home orders and work restrictions, as Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-engineers-ask-why-essential-need-to-come-into-work-2020-12">previously reported</a>. </p><p>These engineers, who review and check the quality of new products, have been coming into the office every day since July as their work cannot be done at home. Most Amazon office workers are allowed to work remotely <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazons-covid-19-blog-updates-on-how-were-responding-to-the-crisis">until at least June 2021</a>.</p><p>The rollout comes as Amazon works to expand its COVID-19 response nationwide using its own labs and testing sites. But some of the Lab126 employees who spoke to Insider say the testing should have come earlier for them, as there's been at least one COVID case among the small group of engineers who have been coming into the office for months.</p><p>The tests offered are not mandatory and are only given to those approved to come into the office, according to people familiar with the matter. Employees are instructed to do a nasal swab test at a conference room that's turned into a testing site at Lab126's Sunnyvale office, and the results are shared within one to three days. </p><p>In an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson confirmed the testing, saying over 500,000 employees across the company have voluntarily taken an on-site COVID-19 test so far.</p><p>"We are continuing to expand access to testing to over a thousand sites globally, including at Lab 126 where we have a very small number of essential employees who are permitted to come to the office," the spokesperson said.</p><p>The testing is part of Amazon's in-house testing program, internally dubbed Project Ultraviolet, as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cem-sibay-now-leading-covid-19-test-lab-2020-7">Insider first reported in July</a>. Amazon previously said it would spend $300 million on the launch of its in-house testing lab, and had invested a total of $11.5 billion since last year in COVID-related measures overall. Earlier this month, Amazon <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/amazons-covid-19-testing-lab-processes-more-than-1-million-tests-for-front-line-employees">announced</a> that its testing lab has processed over 1 million tests at more than 700 testing sites.</p><h2>Long overdue</h2><p>Some employees say testing at Lab126 was long overdue, as the engineers in question have been coming into the office almost every day for the past seven months. At least one employee from the engineer group was diagnosed with COVID in December, and people who came into close contact with that employee were told to quarantine at home, as Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-engineers-ask-why-essential-need-to-come-into-work-2020-12">previously reported</a>.</p><p>Several Lab126 employees told Insider that Amazon hasn't been forthcoming about COVID's health risks and was slow to put in additional safety measures at the office. There hasn't been a clear explanation for why they're deemed "essential workers"a designation that allows them to come into workwhen their job functions are not included in <a href="https://covid19.ca.gov/essential-workforce/">state guidelines</a>.</p><p>These people said Amazon's communication hasn't been clear and they had learned about the employee who contracted COVID-19 only through their Lab126 colleagues, a similar complaint that Amazon's warehouse workers have aired <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workers-say-amazon-hasnt-shared-full-covid-19-cases-with-employees-2020-4">repeatedly over the past year</a>.</p><p>In a statement to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson said the company has made 150 "process updates" to improve safety, including temperature checks and disinfectant spraying across operations worldwide. It also said information about every confirmed COVID case and when the person was last in the building are shared with local health authorities and employees "transparently."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andy-jassy-amazon-web-services-ceo-2021-1" >Andy Jassy will be the next CEO of Amazon. Insiders dish on what it's like to work for Jeff Bezos' successor, who built AWS into a $40 billion business.</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-offers-covid-testing-for-lab126-employees-after-safety-concerns-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-wine-good-heart-health-benefits-healthy-cardiologist-2019-4">A cardiologist revealed the truth behind red wine's health benefits</a></p>
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