A month after federal regulators hit Dollar General stores with $1.6 million in fines for safety violations, the retailer now faces an additional $2.7 million in penalties for similar problems in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said this week that the latest infractions are part of a long-standing history of unsafe practices at the low-cost stores, which have repeatedly put workers in danger. Since 2017, the agency has issued more than $12 million in fines for workplace safety violations at Dollar General sites.
In the latest round, OSHA inspectors last spring and summer found 31 violations at Dollar General stores in Dothan, Clay and Odenville in Alabama; in Darien and West Point, Georgia; and in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“Dollar General has shown a pattern of alarmingly willful disregard for federal safety standards, choosing to place profits over their employees’ safety and well-being,” said Doug Parker, assistant secretary for occupational safety and health. “Neighborhood stores exist to support the needs of their communities – the same communities in which many Dollar General employees live – and that support must include following laws designed to keep workers safe from preventable injuries or worse.”
The latest violations, similar to those found at Dollar General stores across the country, include:
- Failing to label, mount, or make fire extinguishers accessible.
- Storing boxes in front of electrical panels, increasing the risk of fire and electrical hazards.
- Failing to use exit signs to facilitate safe egress in the event of an emergency.
- Exposing workers to electrocution by not keeping unused openings in electrical cabinets closed.
- Not providing handrails on stairs where required.
Dollar General has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or to contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Some of the previous citations are now in litigation, OSHA said.
Those previous citations:
- In October 2022, inspections at four locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia uncovered numerous hazards, leading $1.7 million in penalties. In August, inspections at three other Georgia locations resulted in $1.3 million in fines for exposing workers to fire, electrical, and entrapment hazards by failing to keep exit routes and electrical panels unobstructed.
- In February, OSHA filed for $1 million in penalties after inspections found similar hazards at three Alabama stores and at one in Dalton, Georgia.
- In December 2021, an inspection in Mobile, Alabama led to $321,827 in penalties for exposing workers to slip and trip hazards, and not keeping the main storeroom orderly to allow a safe exit in an emergency.
Dollar General representatives could not be reached for comment Thursday morning. Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC operates about 18,000 stores and 17 distribution centers in 47 states and employs more than 150,000 workers, OSHA noted in a news release.
Topics Commercial Lines Workers' Compensation Business Insurance
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