Why Dollar General Could Be A Dangerous Place To Work At
Dollar General stores were slapped with a total of $1.6 million in workplace violation fines for infractions such as piling items to unsafe heights in stockroom and failing to clean and sanitize properly.
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Are you considering taking a job at Dollar General? If so, you might want to rethink that decision. They made news again for yet another rash of serious workplace safety violations.
Earlier this year, federal inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) paid a visit to four Dollar General locations. They popped by stores in Dewy Rose, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, and Mobile and Grove Hill, Alabama. Those visits resulted in fines totaling roughly $1.6 million, which OSHA officials announced this week.
According to the federal inspectors, those four visits resulted in 10 repeat and four willful violations. And the reasons for the citations are no small matter. According to Footwear News, the repeat violations were “for failing to keep receiving and storage areas clean and orderly, and stacking materials in an unsafe manner.”
But that is not all. Citations were also issued for a failure to keep electrical panels and emergency exits clear and unobstructed, which exposes workers to entrapment and fire hazards. The company also had a locked exit door and failed to label and mount fire extinguishers.
According to OSHA records, Dollar General has a lengthy history of failing to comply with federal workplace safety guidelines. The agency began inspecting Dollar General stores nationwide in 2017. And they have found shocking violations.
There are 18,000 locations across 47 states, all operated by Dolgencorp LLC. In the last five years, they have conducted 182 inspections at Dollar General store locations. Those audits have resulted in initial fines of $9.6 million.
Some of the most recent OSHA inspections illustrated similar workplace hazards that jeopardize the safety of employees. Inspections in August at three Georgia locations resulted in $1,292,783 in fines for fire and entrapment hazards. And similar violations at three stores in Mobile and one in Dalton, Georgia, led to $1,048,309 in fines back in February.
Dollar General’s repeated failure to follow up on OSHA compliance is frustrating federal officials. The assistant secretary for occupational safety and health, Dough Parker, said, “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. 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.”
The audit results are likely not news for Dollar General employees, who have to work in a dangerous environment. But, with the company refusing to make changes, things may not change anytime soon. However, OSHA officials are doing everything they can to help workers.
Dollar General has 15 days to respond to the report. Its options are to request an informal meeting, pay the fine, or contest the findings. If they opt for the latter, they will get a hearing with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
In the meantime, employees who feel they have unsafe work conditions should continue to file complaints with OSHA. The good news is that the agency clearly takes reports from Dollar General store employees seriously. So, at the very least, workers know their voices are heard.
