Dollar General hit by more worker safety fines at Florida, Alabama stores

Dollar General has been hit with more fines for worker safety violations, this time for issues at three Southeast stores amounting to $387,000, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

Federal inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found merchandise blocking exit routes at two stores in Florida, exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards, as well as blocked exit routes and unstable stockpiles of boxes and merchandise at a store in Alabama, according to a press release.

“Dollar General’s growing record of disregard for safety measures makes it abundantly clear that the company puts profit before people,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in a statement. “These violations are preventable, and failing to prevent them shows a blatant disregard for the workers on whom they depend to keep their stores operating. OSHA continues to make every effort to hold Dollar General accountable for its failures.”

The department said Dollar General has 15 days to comply with its citations and penalties, request a conference with OSHA or contest the findings.

Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since 2017, Dollar General has been fined more than $15 million for various violations, according to the Labor Department.

In the past 11 months, dozens of similar violations were identified at 19 stores in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, the agency said.

Seven inspections across the three states resulted in $2.7 million in penalties in November 2022, in addition to $1.6 million in similar penalties that October. In August, Dollar General was hit with nearly $1.3 million in fines for similar violations at three of the company’s Georgia locations.

In August, rival Dollar Tree was also fined $1.2 million by OSHA for worker safety violations.