In an emergency, a blocked exit can be the difference between life and death for employees and customers alike.
Yet, Dollar General – one of the nation’s largest discount retailers – continues to ignore federal workplace safety inspectors who have found repeated instances where the company allows stacked merchandise to block exit routes.
Responding to a complaint, U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors again found blocked exits and other hazards, this time on August 4, 2016, at the company’s store in Van Buren.
As a result, the agency issued one repeated, one serious citation and one other-than-serious safety citation on Sept. 1, 2016. The Van Buren store now faces proposed total penalties of $97,988.
Since 2010, OSHA has found more than 100 safety and health violations at Dollar General stores nationwide.
Headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, the company operates more than 12,000 stores in 43 states and employs about 100,000 workers.
In fiscal 2015, the retailer recorded sales of $20.4 billion.
“In an emergency, every second matters. Neither workers nor customers should have to fight their way through piles of merchandise to exit a building safely,” said Bill McDonald, OSHA’s area director in St. Louis. “As an organization, Dollar General must take responsibility to review its safety and health programs and fix these hazards at all of its stores nationwide now before tragedy strikes.”