The federal government has fined Dollar General over $400,000 after an inspection at a location in Orange County found that the company was “exposing its employees and others to unsafe conditions,” including blocked or obstructed exit doors.
On April 20, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Dollar General Corporation must pay $401,812 for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
In a report filed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on April 12, three different violations were cited at the company’s location at 14147 W. Colonial Drive in Winter Garden.
According to the report, on October 14, 2022 an OSHA inspector found that the employer was failing to ensure effective measures to “prevent fire and obstruction hazards” for employees. During the inspection, one of the store’s exit doors was obstructed by multiple shelves and tiers full of material, while two other exit doors were obstructed by multiple “rolltainers” and boxes of product. That violation carried a fine of $156,259.
Additionally, the report indicates that the company was cited for a repeat violation of not ensuring that “all places of employment, passageways, storerooms, service rooms, and walking-working surfaces” were kept in a “clean, orderly, and sanitary condition.” The receiving/back room of the facility was not kept orderly or clean, which prevented employees from “moving product in and out of the receiving/back room onto the sales floor and from delivery trucks.” That violation carried a fine of $98,219.
The report indicates that the company was cited for similar violations over the past four years at stores located in Illinois and Florida.
The final violation was for material stored in tiers that was not stacked, blocked, interlocked, or limited in height so that it was “stable and secure against sliding and collapse.” That violation levied a $147,334 fine. The violation was a repeat, with the report citing other instances in Alabama and Illinois.
Since 2017, OSHA has issued more than 180 citations to Dollar General Corporation, levying more than $16,000,000 in fines for “numerous willful, repeat and serious workplace safety violations related to unsafe conditions,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In the past year alone, 27 store inspections across Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, have resulted in a total of nearly $8.5 million in penalties.
Dollar General currently operates approximately 19,000 stores and 28 distribution centers across 47 states. The company employs more than 173,000 workers and during the last fiscal year, it reported more than $9 billion in net sales.