OSHA inspection finds Dollar General in Jonestown blocked emergency exit again, proposes $215K penalty

Employer name: Dollar General, doing business as Dollar General Store #13229

Inspection site: 507 Jonestown Road
Jonestown, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Oct. 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one willful and two repeat safety violations.

Inspection findings: OSHA initiated an inspection on April 18, 2016, after receiving an employee complaint. The agency cited a willful violation after inspectors found the discount retailer barricaded an emergency exit door in the back room with a metal bar.

The repeat violations involved blocked electrical panels and the company’s failure to maintain a clear path to an emergency exit door.

Quote: “Dollar General continues its pattern of failing to maintain safe exit routes at its stores. Despite receiving more than 100 safety and health violations at stores nationwide since 2010, which carried more than $1 million in proposed fines, the company has still failed to take corrective actions,” said  Dave Olah, area director of OSHA’s Harrisburg Area Office.

Proposed penalties: $215,578

The citations can be viewed at: https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DollarGeneral_1141463.pdf 

Headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, Dollar General operates more than 12,500 stores in 43 states and employs about 100,000 workers. In fiscal 2015, the retailer recorded sales of $20.4 billion.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. 

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Harrisburg Office at 717-782-3902.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.