The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on June 22 that Dollar Tree Inc. is facing new OSHA fines of $294,668 after the agency inspected a store in Coventry, Rhode Island.
In response to a complaint, inspectors found that store employees were exposed to slip and trip hazards caused by randomly stacked boxes falling and spilling items in the store’s shopping area, as well as trolleys, large boxes, bins and trash scattered throughout storeroom of the store were distributed. The agency’s inspectors also discovered boxes of goods stacked precariously in the storeroom, putting employees at risk of collapsing and being struck by people.
OSHA has cited Dollar Tree for similar dangers in stores in Providence, Rhode Island, and in Idaho, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas.
“We have previously called Rhode Island Dollar Tree sites for insecurely stored inventory and materials, so they are well aware of these hazards and the opportunities to address them,” said Robert Sestito, OSHA area director in Providence, in one Agency statement. “It’s time they put worker safety ahead of profit.”
Dollar Tree Inc. operates Dollar Tree and Family Dollar businesses. OSHA inspectors have found more than 300 violations in more than 500 inspections of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores since 2017. The agency has also sued Dollar Tree’s competitor, Dollar General, for similar violations — blocked doors, switchboards and exit routes, and unsafely stacked boxes.
Additionally, the agency cited Target Corporation stores for blocked exits. In 2020, the company reached a settlement agreement with the agency to resolve a series of cases before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission involving stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
Piedmont Airlines cited after worker death
On June 21, OSHA announced that it was appealing to Piedmont Airlines after a 34-year-old customer service representative was fatally injured when she was pulled into the rotating turbines of a jet engine at Montgomery Regional Airport in Montgomery, Alabama, in December 2022.
During the agency’s New Year’s Eve investigation into the fatality, OSHA found that the Embraer E75 airliner was pulled inward by suction near an engine when a ground crew’s wing walker placed cones around an Embraer E75 airliner.
OSHA has issued a subpoena to Piedmont Airlines for a material violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s Common Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)) by using ground crew when maneuvering aircraft , exposed to the risk of choking when walking on the wings and carrying luggage. editing tasks. The airline faces proposed penalties of $15,625 — an amount set out in federal law.
“Adequate training and enforcement of safety procedures could have prevented this tragedy,” said Jose A. Gonzalez, OSHA area director for Mobile, Alabama, in an agency statement. “This incident is a tragic reminder that safety precautions must be taken even during a routine operation.”
According to OSHA, the employer challenged the agency’s subpoena before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, which decides on challenges to OSHA subpoenas or penalties. Salisbury, Maryland-based Piedmont Airlines Inc. is a subsidiary of Dallas-based American Airlines, according to OSHA. Piedmont employs approximately 10,000 people providing ground and gate operations services at airports throughout the United States.
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