Retailers’ seventh location found to ignore well-known hazards

• OSHA cited Amazon for exposing workers to ergonomic hazards at a company facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• The facility is a delivery site that processes 5,000-10,000 packages per hour and receives about 50,000 packages per day.
• The inspection came in response to an employee complaint of musculoskeletal disorders related to the site’s processing speed and blocked fire exits. OSHA proposed $15,625 in penalties.
• The agency cited Amazon and issued hazard alert letters for similar violations at six warehouse facilities in Florida, Illinois, New York, Idaho, and Colorado.
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Another Dollar Tree faces penalties

• Inspectors at a Dollar Tree store in Mount Pleasant, Texas, found storeroom merchandise blocking exits and walkways and stacking boxes high enough to fall on workers.
• OSHA issued citations to Dollar Tree Inc. for three repeat violations and proposed $254,478 in penalties for the company’s latest workplace safety infractions.
• On Sept. 7, 2022, OSHA opened an inspection at the Mount Pleasant store and found blocked exit routes that exposed employees to fire hazards.
• They also discovered boxes stacked at unstable heights with the potential to seriously injure workers.
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Deadline for electronic reporting to OSHA

• The deadline to electronically submit information from the OSHA Form 300A for the year 2022 is March 2.
• A company’s injury and illness recordkeeping forms should be complete and posted at this time, OSHA also requires certain establishments to submit electronically the information from Form 300A.
• OSHA Form 300A is a summary of all the injuries and illnesses that took place in an establishment during the previous year.
• The injuries and illnesses recorded on any of the recordkeeping forms must meet the OSHA recordable criteria.
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Dental owners to pay $15,000 for inadequate safety response

• Two workers at a North Texas dental practice will share $15,706 in back wages to be paid by the dentists who fired them for raising concerns about COVID-19 safety measures.
• An investigation by OSHA found Roger and David Bohannan of Roger H. Bohannan DDS Inc. furloughed their employees when Texas banned specific dental procedures during the pandemic.
• While furloughed, a dental hygienist and dental assistant asked what safety measures would be in place once patients and employees returned.
• After receiving a call to return to work, the practice did not reinstate the hygienist after they cited guidance from OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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