Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Workplace inspectors for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have proposed fines against Dollar General for workplace safety violations.
No, these are not the fines OSHA proposed against the nationwide retailer on March 8.
These are the fines OSHA proposed on March 10, and they are just the latest in a very long line of similar fines the agency has proposed against the retailer.
Since 2017, OSHA has issued more than $15 million in fines and cited Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp in more than 180 inspections nationwide for numerous willful, repeat and serious workplace safety violations related to unsafe conditions
In the latest case, OSHA inspected stores in Ocala, Florida, and Columbus, Georgia, and catalogued many of the same violations Dollar General has refused to correct at its stores throughout the nation.
In Ocala, federal workplace inspectors opened inspections at two stores in late August and September 2022. They found merchandise obstructing exit routes, exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards. OSHA also discovered merchandise blocking fire extinguishers and an automatic sliding door disabled and locked. The agency cited the company for five repeat violations and proposed $710,974 in penalties for these inspections.
OSHA's investigation in Columbus found a Dollar General location also exposed workers to fire and entrapment hazards by locking an emergency exit door. The location had boxes and merchandise stored in an unsafe manner, exposing workers to struck-by hazards. OSHA issued citations for two repeat violations with $221,001 in proposed penalties.
At another location, OSHA found boxes of merchandise, shopping carts and other items blocking walkways, exposing employees to trip hazards. OSHA cited Dollar General with one repeat violation and $98,219 in proposed penalties.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
