A sign hangs above a Dollar General store in Chicago on August 31, 2023.
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The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that Dollar Generalrequiring the retailer and its subsidiaries to pay $12 million in fines and implement major workplace safety improvements at more than 19,000 stores nationwide.
The discount store has been fined more than $21 million by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 2017 due to blocked fire exits, dangerous levels of clutter and other safety claims. Gun violence is also an issue for Dollar General stores: 49 people have been killed and 172 injured at Dollar General stores due to gun violence, according to 2023 data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.
Dollar General is a repeat offender from the Department of Labor, becoming the first company to be placed on OSHA's “Serious Violators of Workplace Safety Rules List” in 2023 after OSHA expanded the scope of its safety enforcement program.
“This agreement commits Dollar General to making worker safety a priority and providing benefits to Dollar General employees by implementing significant, systemic changes in operations to increase accountability and compliance,” said the Assistant Secretary of OSHA. Provide vital input into ensuring your own health and safety.
Under the new settlement, the Tennessee-based retailer will be required to hire additional security managers and significantly reduce and improve inventory efficiency to prevent exit blockages and chaos. It also requires that safety and health training be provided to all employees and that safety and health committees with employee participation be established.
Dollar General hired third-party consultants and auditors to identify hazards and conduct unannounced annual compliance audits, created a new security operations center and launched an anonymous hotline for employees and the public to report safety concerns.
The third-party auditor was first appointed in response to a May 2023 shareholder vote calling for a third-party audit, a decision the company opposed at the time.
The settlement with the Labor Department also requires Dollar General to monitor the results of these efforts and provide quarterly reports to OSHA.
Under the agreement, Dollar General will be required to correct safety hazards, such as blocked access to fire extinguishers and electrical panels and improper storage of materials in stores, within 48 hours and submit proof of correction. Discounters that fail to do so will be subject to additional fines ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 per day.
CNBC has reached out to Dollar General for additional comment.