OSHA Finds Dollar General in Violation of Federal Workforce Safety Standards

Dollar General has again been found in violation of federal workplace safety regulations for “willfully exposing” staff to fire hazards at a Pennsylvania store, the Department of Labor said Friday. 

At a Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, shop, authorities discovered” dangerous safety risks” during an inspection in November that was prompted by an Occupational Safety and Health Administration complaint, including blocked emergency exit routes and electric panel.

The review is one of more than 180 studies in which OSHA has found Dollar General to be endangering employee health, according to the DOL. The accidents were comparable to violations found at many discounter-operated stores across the United States.

Dollar General” regularly review and refine our health services, and reinforce them through preparation, ongoing transmission, recognition and accountability ,” a spokesperson for the company responded to CNBC.

The spokesperson continued,” We work to promptly address the issue and make sure that the company’s’s expectations regarding safety are clearly communicated, understood, and implemented when we learn of situations where we have failed to uphold this commitment.”

Since 2017, the company has received a$ 15 million fine for safety violations and” continues to defy federal workplace safety requirements” despite repeated penalties, according to the organization. The company employs more than 150,000 people and operates roughly 18, 000 stores across the nation.

According to a speech from OSHA Area Director Mary Reynolds,” exposing employees to these risks can be harmful, especially in an crisis.” They must stop their repeated failures to perfect these breaches before an incident turns tragic, according to” Dollar General Corp. has a strong background of the same breaches and accidents found at stores all over the U. S.”

Dollar General was recently labeled a” serious violator” of workplace safety regulations, and OSHA claimed that the business was in lawsuit speaks with federal regulators. After OSHA increased the scope of one of its long-standing safety protection programs, Dollar General was the first business to be added to the” serious violators” roster last fall.

OSHA issued a citation for the Pennsylvania store’s’s problems, with proposed penalties of$ 245, 544 for one intentional violation and one follow violation. However, the charges are not likely to significantly affect the shop.

Dollar General reported$ 37.84 billion in sales and a net income of$ 2.41 billion for financial 2022, which ended on February 3.

The company has 15 business times to pay the fines, ask the area manager of OSHA for a casual meeting, or challenge the impartial Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s’s outcomes.