When federal workplace safety inspectors visited three Dollar General stores in Georgia earlier this year, they found exit routes obstructed, boxes of merchandise stacked unsafely and electrical panels hard to access. Such violations are often cited at Dollar General locations.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed more than $6.5 million in penalties after 78 inspections at Dollar General locations nationwide, including more than $450,000 in penalties as a result of three inspections in Georgia since 2017. OSHA inspectors frequently find unsafe conditions that put workers at risk and that could lead to disaster for employees and customers in an emergency.
Inspections at Dollar General stores in 2022 in Pembroke in February and in Hogansville and Smyrna in March identified four willful and seven repeat violations. Specifically, OSHA cited the company for failing to keep receiving areas clean and orderly and for stacking materials in an unsafe manner. These hazards exposed workers to slips, trips and being struck by objects. OSHA also issued citations for exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards by failing to keep exit routes and electrical panels clear and unobstructed.
As a result of the three latest inspections, OSHA has proposed $1,292,783 in penalties.
"Dollar General continues to demonstrate a willful pattern of ignoring hazardous working conditions and a disregard for the well-being of its employees," says Doug Parker, assistant secretary for occupational safety and health Doug. "Despite similar citations and sizable penalties in more than 70 inspections, the company refuses to change its business practices. OSHA will take all necessary enforcement actions and pursue all available remedies against Dollar General until it fixes the disconnect between its business model and worker safety."
Dollar General's pattern of disregarding worker safety was apparent at five other Southeast locations.
A June 2021 federal inspection at a Dollar General Store in Mobile, Alabama, found the store’s operator, Dolgencorp LLC, again failed to keep the main storeroom orderly to allow safe exit during an emergency, exposed workers to slip-and-trip hazards and being struck by falling boxes, and prevented access to electrical panels. OSHA identified three repeat violations in the Mobile inspection and proposed $321,827 in penalties.
In June 2022, OSHA cited two Dollar General stores for endangering the safety of their employees. In Baldwin, Wisconsin, OSHA inspectors responded to a referral from local fire officials in December 2021 and found emergency exit doors closed and padlocked on the inside with a bike lock and a board.
Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dolgencorp LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dollar General Corp. and operates about 17,000 stores and 17 distribution centers around the nation and employs more than 150,000 workers.
