Dollar General is being investigated by OSHA
- Dollar General is facing another $1.68 million in fines after government safety inspectors found violations at four of the chain’s stores in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, federal regulators said.
- OSHA found dirty and disorderly storage areas and materials stacked unsafely at locations in Mobile and Grove Hill, Alabama; Tampa, Florida; and Dewy Rose, Georgia.
- Those conditions put workers at risk of slipping, tripping, and getting struck by falling objects, and fire hazards, OSHA said.
- Dollar General has faced more than $9.6 million in initial penalties after 182 inspections since 2017.
Union member describes workplace violence at OSHA summit
- A member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees in Maryland spoke at OSHA’s first-ever Workers’ Voice Summit to discuss workplace violence.
- Miriam Doyle, a social worker at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, also suggested ways to correct the problems.
- “One of the most looming issues for me is the prevalence of workplace violence, which has been so aggravated by understaffing and institutional failure to implement safety protocols,” she said.
- Doyle told OSHA officials that workplace safety has to be prioritized and transparent.
Workplace safety improves profits
- Companies can establish a working symmetry between safety and production/financial goals.
- Sometimes, there is a demand for production numbers that often seem to surpass safety and machine maintenance.
- However, companies that become complacent with safety issues in their day-to-day tasks risk hurting more than a profit.
- Managers, supervisors, and engineers need to ensure they create a safe working environment for their employers and that will also help with production.
Feds want to cut down on construction-related suicides
- Construction workers are constantly dealing with workplace perils with elevation, being struck or crushed by equipment, and electrocution.
- Recent studies suggest that suicide is another occupational concern for these workers.
- The suicide rate for men in construction and extraction was five times greater than the rate of all other work-related fatalities in the industry in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- These workers are four times more likely to end their own lives than people in the general population and OSHA is encouraging employers to create crisis management programs and post suicide hotlines to help address this challenge.