DOL Enters Corporate-Wide Settlement With Retailer to Address Facility Hazards

Facilities with blocked exits and aisles, unsafely stacked materials, and trash strewn about pose a hazard to the people who visit, work in, and clean them. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited multiple Dollar Tree and Family Dollar retailers for such hazards.

Last week the DOL announced that OSHA has entered into a corporate-wide settlement agreement with the operators of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar to improve workplace safety in their stores nationwide. The settlement agreement requires Dollar Tree and Family Dollar to conduct a comprehensive, nationwide assessment of the root causes of the violations OSHA has repeatedly cited at multiple stores. The retailers must then create a plan to identify the causes of the violations and make operational changes to correct them within a two-year period.

In the meantime, the companies must correct hazards related to blocked exits, access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels, and improper material storage within 48 hours of OSHA notifying them—and later submit proof the hazards were corrected. If they fail to do so, the companies will be subject to monetary assessments of US$100,000 per day of violation, up to $500,000, as well as OSHA inspection and enforcement actions.

 “At the Department of Labor, we know that every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of the workday,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Through our robust enforcement of workplace protections and use of innovative legal methods that resulted in this agreement, thousands of workers will have a healthier, safer, and more certain future.”

“This agreement focuses on improving working conditions at thousands of stores nationwide,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have agreed to significant investments to more effectively identify and correct the root causes of the hazards most commonly found during OSHA inspections, including blocked exits and unstable stacking of materials.”

The companies have also agreed to pay $1.35 million in penalties to settle existing contested inspections as well as open inspections of similar alleged violations.

The corporate-wide settlement agreement, which went into effect August 17, covers all Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores within federal OSHA jurisdiction. As part of the agreement, which may last up to two years, the company will form safety advisory groups with extensive employee representation, enhance hazard identification and control programs, develop an audit program, create a new employee training program, and hire additional safety professionals.

Dollar Tree has agreed to maintain a 24-hour hotline to receive safety complaints and establish a tracking system to ensure complaints are addressed. The company will also hold quarterly meetings between OSHA and its Dollar Tree and Family Dollar operations to discuss progress towards systemic improvements.