9. Family Dollar store was cited after deadly shoplifting incident
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A fatal shoplifting incident led to a safety citation for a budget retailer this year after federal regulators found that the chain did not train staff sufficiently to respond to in-store thefts.
The Department of Labor cited a Family Dollar Inc. store in Orlando, Florida, for willful and repeat safety violations and proposed $330,446 in penalties after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the store had entrapment hazards and did not do enough to train employees on proper procedures in the event of robberies or shoplifting incidents.
A 41-year-old Family Dollar employee died in late 2021 after trying to prevent a shoplifter from fleeing the store with stolen merchandise.
OSHA issued the company a willful violation citation for keeping an emergency exit door locked with a single key held by a manager and gave out two repeat violation citations for failing to keep a clear pathway for employees to walk through and for allowing store aisles to remain blocked by carts and boxes of merchandise.
The story about the citations was the ninth most read workers compensation-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2022.
The Florida incident was not the only time Family Dollar has received citations from OSHA this year for hazards at its stores.
In early December, a Family Dollar store in Richmond Hill, Georgia, was cited by OSHA for safety hazards after inspectors said they discovered improperly secured compressed-gas cylinders and unsafely stacked boxes of merchandise at the location.
A $364,645 fine was proposed in the Georgia case.
