Dollar General facing more OSHA fines
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued $117,579 in proposed fines against discount retailer Dollar General Corp. for allegedly putting workers and customers in danger by allowing emergency exit routes to be blocked.
Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General operates more than 12,500 stores in 43 states and employs about 100,000 workers, according to an OSHA statement on Tuesday. In fiscal 2015, the retailer recorded sales of $20.4 billion.
At a Dollar General store in Pioneer, Ohio, OSHA inspectors found merchandise blocking exits during an August inspection. OSHA issued one willful safety citation last week to the Dollar General store, the agency said in the statement.
OSHA said it has recorded more than 100 safety and health violations at Dollar General stores throughout the U.S., and assessed more than $1 million in proposed fines against the retailer since 2010.
"Dollar General's continued pattern of ignoring its responsibility to protect its employees and its customers in all of its stores is cause for real concern. Obstructed exits are a real danger. Seconds matter in an emergency, and no one should have to struggle to get out of a store safely," Kim Nelson, OSHA's area director in Toledo, Ohio said in a statement.
In a statement to Business Insurance, Dollar General said it “has taken immediate actions to address the situations referenced in the OSHA citation.”
“Dollar General is committed to providing a safe work environment for its employees and safe shopping experience for its customers. The company employs a number of measures designed to ensure store managers and their teams understand the necessary steps to create and maintain a safe store environment,” the statement reads.
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