The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday that it entered into a corporatewide settlement agreement with Dollar General Corp. in which the retailer agreed to pay $12 million in penalties related to “systemic” safety problems.
OSHA said the settlement with Dollar General — which is headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and operates more than 19,000 stores nationwide — resolves all existing contested citations and open OSHA inspections involving various safety violations, such as blocked emergency exits and electrical panels, blocked fire extinguishers and unsafe storage.
“This agreement commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority by implementing significant and systemic changes in its operations to improve accountability and compliance, and it gives Dollar General employees essential input on ensuring their own health and safety,” OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker said in a statement.
In addition to the penalties, Dollar General agreed to implement corporatewide changes to improve workplace safety, including establishing and maintaining an expanded safety structure and a “robust” safety and health management system, reducing inventory and increasing stocking efficiency to prevent blocked exits and unsafe material storage, and providing safety and health training to leadership and nonmanagerial employees.
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. If the company fails to do so it can face a $100,000 per-day penalty up to a $500,000 maximum.
The company must also provide quarterly reports to OSHA as part of the settlement agreement.
