Good Question – Are You Doing Business with an OSHA Severe Violator?
Definition:
📗An OSHA Severe Violator is an employer who has willfully and repeatedly violated U.S. occupational safety and health regulations by having been issued multiple Willful and Repeat OSHA citations.
📗 As implied in its title, the Severe Violator Enforcement Program targets employers that exhibit what OSHA calls “indifference to their OSH Act obligations.”
📗 OSHA has a Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) that identifies all such employer regardless of size or industry group and takes punitive measures against them.
One of the most well known OSHA Severe Violator is probably that of the retail chain Dollar General (DG) and here is some corporate background information:
▶️ Dollar General is a chain of discount stores that was initially founded in Kentucky in 1939.
▶️ It currently operates more than 19,400-stores in both the U.S. and Mexico.
▶️ The chain has around 170,000 non-union employees.
▶️ Dollar General had an operating revenue of $38-Billion and total assets of $27-Billion in fiscal year 2023.
▶️ DG has 271 locations in West Virginia, 690 in Kentucky and 968 in Ohio.
DG’s OSHA Troubles:
👎 Dollar General stores and other corporate owned facilities have had a total of 434-OSHA inspections since 2015.
👎 OSHA inspection data would seem to indicate that 70% of their inspections have been the result of employee safety or health complaints directly to OSHA.
👎 Since 2017, DG has accumulated more than $17-Million in OSHA penalties.
👎 The most common DG OSHA willful & repeat violations include:
🚫 Blocked aisles
🚫 Blocked emergency exits
🚫 Blocked access to fire extinguishers
🚫 Blocked access to electrical panels
🚫 Cluttered backrooms
🚫 Unsafely stacked merchandise
Dollar General’s Business Model is what got it in Trouble with OSHA:
📈 DG stores focus on the sale of high turnover household and personal use goods.
📈 The average DG store is around 7,500 square feet in size, has only 1,000 to 1,500-square feet of storage and sits on a 1-acre lot.
📈 Because of limited storage space for recently delivered merchandise, stockage has been stacked in such a manner as to block isles, emergency exits, electrical distribution boxes and access to fire extinguishers.
📈 For comparison purposes, the average Walmart super center is around 182,000-square feet and is situated on a 5-acre lot.
📈 A Walmart store will have around 300-employees, while DG will average around 14 per store.
📈 Dollar General has been criticized by labor advocacy groups for having a business model prioritized profits over employee and customer safety.
Dollar General’s OSHA Settlement of July 2024 Requires DG to:
✴️ Pay a corporate fine of $12-million.
✴️ Establish and maintain an expanded safety structure and a robust safety and health management system, including the hiring additional safety managers.
✴️ Significantly reduce inventory and increase stocking efficiency to prevent blocked exits and unsafe material storage.
✴️ Provide safety and health training to both leadership and non-managerial employees.
✴️ Develop a safety and health committee and encouraging employee participation.
✴️ Obtain the services of a 3rd party consultant to conduct random compliance audits on all stores, nationwide.
✴️ In the future, all violations related to blocked exits, fire extinguishers, electrical panels, and improper materials storage are to be abated within 48-hours.
✴️ DG will be required to provide quarterly reports to OSHA on its compliance efforts.
In addition to the OSHA Settlement, DG is Making Changes to its Business Model to Include:
✅ With new store construction, increasing the building size to an average of 10,000-square feet.
✅ Adding larger storage rooms and wider aisles.
✅ Addressing inventory management by arranging for merchandise to be delivered throughout the week, rather than concentrated on certain days.
✅ Improving overall employee job satisfaction levels and reducing store manager turnover.
Lessons to be Learned With DG’s OSHA Troubles:
1️⃣ Never take shortcuts on employee and customer safety with a corporate business model.
2️⃣ Don’t consider OSHA citations and penalties as just another cost of doing business.
3️⃣ Avoid the potential for OSHA Willful and Repeat citations by effectively noted communicating the importance of the timely correction of safety hazards through documented workplace inspections.
4️⃣ Ensure that the corporate safety department has dual authority over both loss prevention and OSHA compliance.
5️⃣ Understand that OSHA will focus on so called “Bad Actors” on a national level and use its substantial enforcement powers to force workplace safety and health compliance through it policy of the public shaming of severe violators.
West Virginia Businesses at Risk of Becoming OSHA Severe Violators Because of Repeat or Willful Violations:
🔆 Technocap LLC, Glendale, WV, a
🔆 Niche Polymer LLC, Ravenswood, WV, a plastics manufacturer.
🔆 Jupiter Aluminum Manufacturing, Wellsburg, WV, a metal coating engraver.
🔆 McIntosh Box & Pallet Company, Martinsburg, WV, a wooden container & pallet manufacturer.
🔆 Continental Brick Company, Martinsburg, WV, a brick manufacturer.
🔆 American Builders Contractors & Supply Company, Inc., Morgantown, WV, a roofing, siding, & insulation materials wholesaler.
🔆 Bulldog Rack of Weirton, Weirton, WV, a showcase, partition, shelving & locker manufacturer.
For Additional Information on this subject, Contact Rob Brooks at:
☎️ (606)434-0739
