Dollar General agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims that there were unsafe working conditions across its stores, such as blocked fire exits and fire extinguishers and unsafe storage, according to the Department of Labor.
Aside from paying the hefty penalty, the settlement between the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Dollar General will ensure that the chain and its retail subsidiaries “make significant workplace safety improvements in stores nationwide.”
The Tennessee-based company, which operates more than 19,000 stores nationwide, must ensure the abatement of any future violations related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels as well as improper material storage at its stores during the agreement term.
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The company was given 48 hours to submit proof that it has corrected such hazards.
If it fails to correct such actions, the company will face a daily fine of $100,000, though it could amount to as much as $500,000. It will also face additional OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.
Under the agreement, Dollar General will have to prioritize worker safety by implementing “significant and systematic changes in its operations to improve accountability and compliance,” said Douglas Parker, the assistant secretary for OSHA.
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Among these changes, the company will also be required to develop a safety and health committee and provide safety and health training to both leadership and non-managerial employees.
It will also have to significantly reduce inventory and increase stocking efficiency to prevent exits from becoming blocked as well as unsafe material storage.
The company is also required to establish “an expanded safety structure and a robust safety and health management system” which would include hiring additional safety managers.
The changes will give employees the “input on ensuring their own health and safety,” which would give them greater peace of mind, according to Parker.
Dollar General has already retained a third-party consultant to identify hazards and analyze enterprise-wide contributing factors and a third-party auditor to perform unannounced compliance audits annually at all covered stores.
It also created a new Safety Operations Center to detect store hazards and support safety performance. There is also an anonymous hotline for employees and the public to report safety concerns.
FOX Business reached out to Dollar General for comment.
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