Dollar General Facing Another Round of OSHA Fines

Goodlettsville, TN (WorkersCompensation.com) - Two months after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied fines against Dollar General Corp. for unsafe working conditions, the agency has levied another round of fines against the company. 

On Oct. 19, OSHA announced $1.6 million in fines against Dollar General and Dolgencorp LLC. The Goodlettsville, Tenn. entities own more than 18,000 Dollar General stores in 47 states. The agency said the fines were levied against the discount store chain for ignoring "federal workplace safety and standards." 

OSHA said the fines stem from inspections at Dollar General store locations in Mobile and Grove Hill, Alabama; Tampa, Florida and Dewy Rose, Georgia in April 2022. Inspectors cited the retail outlet for four willful violations and 10 repeat violation for failure to keep receiving and storage areas clean and orderly, and stacking materials in an unsafe manner. The violations exposed workers to hazards associated with slips, trips and falls, as well as being struck by objects. 

The agency also cited the company for exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards by failing to keep exit routes and electrical panels clear and unobstructed, as well as for failing to mount and label fire extinguishers and having a locked exit door that required a key to open. 

The latest citation brings to $9.6 million in fines for the company since 2017. OSHA said it has conducted 182 inspections at Dollar General locations across the country, and that inspectors often find unsafe conditions that are hazardous for worker safety if they need a quick emergency exit. 

“Once again, our inspectors have found Dollar General stores ignoring federal safety standards and exposing their employees to hazardous working conditions in violation of the law,” Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said. “We will use our full enforcement powers to hold Dollar General accountable for its ongoing pattern of behavior until they show that they take worker safety seriously.” 

In the last 11 months, OSHA said it has found similar violations at five other stores in the southeast. 

In December 2021, OSHA inspected a Dollar General in Mobile that led to $321,827 in penalties for exposing workers to slip and trip hazards, and not keeping the main storeroom orderly to allow for a safe exit. In February 2022, OSHA inspected three other locations in Mobile and another in Dalton, Georgia that resulted in $1,048,309 in fines for similar violations. Then, in August 2022, inspectors proposed $1,292,783 in fines at three other Georgia locations for exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards by failing to keep exit routs and electrical panels unobstructed. 

A Dollar General location in Greencastle, Pa., was cited twice in one year. OSHA cited the store for endangering workers' safety, and proposed $136,741 in penalties. 

Inspectors in that case inspected the store on Dec. 28, 2021 in response to a complaint. That inspection found "conditions similar to those for which the company has received numerous violations at locations throughout the country," the agency said. 

Inspectors said the store staged excessive amounts of merchandise in aisleways and in the stockroom, as well as blocked and constricted exit routes - the same violations the same store received citations for in June 2021. 

“Preventing employees from freely, safely and quickly exiting a workplace in an emergency can lead to serious injuries or worse,” said OSHA Area Director Kevin T. Chambers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “Dollar General Corp. has a substantial history of the same violations and hazards found at its stores all over the country. Their repeated failures to correct these violations must end before an emergency leads to a tragedy.” 

OSHA said that Dollar General Corp.'s Director of Risk Management, Adam Zager, has signed several agreements with the agency promising to resolve similar violations at its store. The company has 15 business days to comply with the citations and penalties, to request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or to contest the findings before OSHA's Review Commission. 

As far back as 2016, OSHA noted that it had received complaints from Dollar General's employees in 21 states since 2006, and that between 2006 and 2016, the company had been cited for 240 safety violations, including numerous willful and repeat violations. 

Dollar General did not respond to requests for comment.

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