Dollar Tree apparently has joined Dollar General in the crosshairs of federal workplace safety inspectors.
Since 2017, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations to Dollar Tree Inc. for violations in more than 500 inspections at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores in the United States. In all, OSHA has identified more than 300 violations at stores operated by one of the nation's largest discount retailers. Here are the latest inspections and results.
In Texas, soon after OSHA workplace safety inspectors arrived at a Family Dollar store in southeast Van Zandt County in December 2022, they found the store's operator allowing merchandise to block storeroom exits and walkways, stacking boxes at unsafe heights and failing to ensure quick access to fire extinguishers.
OSHA issued citations to Family Dollar Stores of Texas LLC for three repeat violations and proposed $294,657 in penalties. The findings in this inspection are similar to those OSHA cited at a Dollar Tree store in Mount Pleasant in September 2022 that led to $254,478 in proposed penalties.
In Rhode Island, for the third time in three months, OSHA has cited Dollar Tree Inc. for allowing hazardous conditions at one of its Rhode Island stores, this one in Coventry.
Responding to a complaint, OSHA opened an inspection at the Dollar Tree store in January 2023. Inspectors found store employees exposed to slip and trip hazards created by haphazardly stacked boxes falling and spilling items in the store's shopping area and wheeled carts, large boxes, bins and trash spread throughout the stockroom. They also discovered boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely in the stockroom, exposing employees to collapse and struck-by hazards. These conditions led OSHA to cite Dollar Tree for two repeat violations with $294,668 in proposed penalties.
And in Wisconsin, federal workplace safety inspectors opened an investigation at a Pewaukee Dollar Tree store in January 2023 in response to an employee's concerns about unsafe work conditions. OSHA inspectors found merchandise blocking aisles and exit routes, creating trip and fall hazards and preventing workers from leaving the location safely in an emergency.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
