Discount retailer Dollar General has agreed to pay the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) $12 million in penalties and will do a complete worker safety overhaul, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
This settlement agreement resolves existing contested as well as open federal OSHA inspections involving alleged violations such as blocked emergency exits, blocked electrical panels, blocked fire extinguishers and unsafe storage.
The improvements include:
- Establishing and maintaining an expanded safety structure and a “robust” safety and health management system, including hiring additional safety managers.
- Significantly reducing inventory and increasing stocking efficiency to prevent blocked exits and unsafe material storage.
- Providing safety and health training to both leadership and non-managerial employees.
- Developing a safety and health committee and encouraging employee participation.
The agreement also requires Dollar General to ensure prompt abatement of any future violations related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels and improper material storage at its stores during the agreement term. The company must correct such hazards generally within 48 hours and submit proof they corrected hazards. Failure to do so subjects Dollar General to monetary assessments of $100,000 per day of violation, up to $500,000, as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.
As part of the settlement, Dollar General also has retained a third-party consultant to identify hazards and analyze enterprise-wide contributing factors; retained a third-party auditor to perform unannounced compliance audits annually at all covered stores to assess egress, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, electrical hazards and storage conditions; created a new Safety Operations Center to detect store hazards and support safety performance; and maintained an anonymous hotline for employees and the public to report safety concerns.
Dollar General will monitor outcomes from these actions and provide quarterly reports to OSHA as part of the agreement.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with OSHA to resolve these matters,” Dollar General said in an statement provided to Supermarket News. “We remain committed to ensuring a safe working environment for our employees and a pleasant shopping experience for our customers.”
Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General operates more than 20,000 stores and 32 distribution centers nationwide.
A version of this story first appeared inSupermarket News.
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