The Associated Press (“AP News”) reports that Dollar General has agreed to settle alleged workplace safety violations through payment of a $12 million penalty and to improve worker safety conditions at its retail stores nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) inspections of Dollar General Stores documented numerous serious and repeated violations, including unsafe product storage, blocked emergency exits and fire extinguishers, and inaccessible electrical panels.
The OSHA Settlement Agreement covers all of Dollar General’s 19,000(+) U.S. stores, with the exception of its pOpshelf locations.
The AP News article may be read in full HERE.
Today (7/11/2024), OSHA issued the following Press Release:
OSHA National News Release
July 11, 2024
Department of Labor announces settlement with Dollar General requiring corporate-wide safety investments in stores nationwide
Agreement will facilitate safer environments for thousands of workers nationwide
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has entered into a corporate-wide settlement with Dollar General and its retail subsidiaries to make significant workplace safety improvements in stores nationwide.
“This agreement commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority by implementing significant and systematic changes in its operations to improve accountability and compliance, and it gives Dollar General employees essential input on ensuring their own health and safety,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker. “These changes help give peace of mind to thousands of workers, knowing that they are not risking their safety in their workplaces and that they will come home healthy at the end of each day.”
Dollar General agreed to pay $12 million in penalties and implement corporate-wide changes that make the safety of its employees a priority. These improvements include the following:
- Establishing and maintaining an expanded safety structure and a robust safety and health management system, including hiring additional safety managers.
- Significantly reducing inventory and increasing stocking efficiency to prevent blocked exits and unsafe material storage.
- Providing safety and health training to both leadership and non-managerial employees.
- Developing a safety and health committee and encouraging employee participation.
The agreement also requires Dollar General to ensure prompt abatement of any future violations related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, and improper material storage at its stores during the agreement term. The company must correct such hazards — generally within 48 hours — and submit proof they corrected hazards. Failure to do so subjects Dollar General to monetary assessments of $100,000 per day of violation, up to $500,000, as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.
Dollar General retained a third-party consultant to identify hazards and analyze enterprise-wide contributing factors; retained a third-party auditor to perform unannounced compliance audits annually at all covered stores to assess egress, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, electrical hazards and storage conditions; created a new Safety Operations Center to detect store hazards and support safety performance; and maintained an anonymous hotline for employees and the public to report safety concerns.
These actions are also requirements of the settlement agreement. Dollar General will monitor outcomes from these actions and provide quarterly reports to OSHA as part of the agreement.
This settlement agreement resolves existing contested as well as open federal OSHA inspections involving alleged violations such as blocked emergency exits, blocked electrical panels, blocked fire extinguishers and unsafe storage.
Based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General operates more than 19,000 stores nationwide.
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Release Number: 24-1174-NAT
NOTE: A copy of the actual Settlement Agreement may be viewed or downloaded HERE.
My brothers and sisters, it appears that Dollar General allowed for inconsistent or insufficient managerial oversight of its nationwide operations. Sometimes, within a large corporate culture, it’s all too easy to forget the basics of employee and operational safety for the sake of assuring profits.
Hopefully, Dollar General, which is a valued chain of stores for those on limited budgets and for those who appreciate frugality, will indeed feel the deterrent-focused goal of OHSA’s monetary penalty (and not simply choose to absorb it) and will take to heart the importance of employee involvement in the safety culture of the business.
The bible shows us that wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from the Lord:
Proverbs 2:6-8 (NLT)
“For the Lord grants wisdom! From [H]is mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to [H]im.”
The bible also shows us that dishonest business practices are offensive to the Lord, and that pride brings dishonor and shame. The Lord desires for us to walk in integrity and moral courage, never placing the love of money (profit) over its employees:
Proverbs 11:1-3 (Amplified Bible)
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
“A false balance and dishonest business practices are extremely offensive to the Lord, [b]ut an accurate scale is His delight. When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame, [b]ut with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind. The integrity and moral courage of the upright will guide them, [b]ut the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.”
1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”