Dollar General faves almost $3M in fines
- Less than one month after the U.S. Department of Labor cited Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC with more than $1.6 million in penalties for putting its workers’ safety at risk, federal inspectors have issued citations for similar violations.
- The infections were found at store locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and added $2,777,640 in proposed penalties now owed by one of the nation’s largest discount retailers.
- Since 2017, Dollar General Corp. and Dolgencorp LLC have received more than $12.3 million in initial penalties for numerous willful, repeat and serious workplace safety violations.
- During the past five years, OSHA found unsafe conditions that expose workers to the possibility of being struck by falling boxes of merchandise or trapped or unable to exit the store safely in an emergency in more than 180 inspections at Dollar General stores nationwide.
OSHA investigating fatal trench collapse
- OSHA is investigating a fatal trench collapse in Ruston, Louisiana.
- A worker for Skylan Construction Inc. was in an 8-foot-deep excavation to upgrade a sewer lift station for existing sewer services when the trench collapsed, OSHA reports.
- The worker was taken to Northern Louisiana Medical Center hospital where he was pronounced dead.
- The worker’s death is among a spate of trench hazards that lead to injuries or death.
Philadelphia contractor faces penalties
- A Philadelphia framing contractor faces $269,594 in penalties after the company was found exposing employees to deadly fall hazards at a residential worksite in the city’s Roxborough section.
- OSHA inspected Max Contractors Inc. in response to a report that the company was exposing workers to fall hazards while conducting framing work in a residential structure.
- Inspectors observed workers on the building’s second and third levels working near floor holes and the edge of the building without fall protection, exposing them to falls up to 22 feet.
- OSHA cited the company for three serious and six repeat violations for not providing fall protection and protective eyewear.
Questions arise about OSHA in Indiana
- The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration is being questioned about its prowess in investigating workplace injuries, according to an editorial in The Indianapolis Star.
- The agency has received more than 6,000 COVID-related complaints since 2020, the media company reported.
- However, IOSHA conducted inspections on fewer than 50 — less than 1%, which IndyStar reports is at the bottom of all states.