OSHA Serves Rite Aid $121,100 in Fines for Hazardous Conditions at Brooklyn Store
The inspection identified several hazardous conditions similar to those cited by OSHA during inspections of Rite Aid stores in the Bronx and Rome, N.Y., in 2007 and 2008.
OSHA has cited Rite Aid of New York Inc. for 10 alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards following an inspection of the retail chain's store at in Brooklyn. Rite Aid faces a total of $121,100 in proposed fines.
The inspection identified several hazardous conditions similar to those cited by OSHA during inspections of Rite Aid stores in the Bronx and Rome, N.Y., in 2007 and 2008. These conditions include an emergency exit blocked by garbage and debris, merchandise stacked in an unsafe manner, electrical panels blocked by cardboard and totes containing merchandise, an ungrounded electric power strip, and employees exposed to an electrical hazard while stacking stock. As a result, OSHA cited the company for five repeat violations with $93,500 in proposed fines.
Additional violations include a stairway to the basement storage room that was too steep, too narrow, and lacked slip resistant treads; an 8-foot fall hazard for employees standing on the top of a ladder to store stock; boxes of merchandise used to prop open an emergency exit door; the absence of portable fire extinguishers in a basement storage room; and the lack of a working interlock to prevent a box crusher from operating while its door was open. These conditions resulted in citations for five serious violations with $27,600 in fines.
"One might not think of a store as a hazardous workplace, but the fact is that these conditions expose workers to potentially deadly falls, crushing injuries, burns, and electrocution, as well as the inability of workers and customers to exit swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency," said Kay Gee, OSHA's Manhattan area director. "The sizable fines proposed here reflect both the severity of these hazards and the reality that this employer previously has been cited for similar conditions."
"For the safety and health of all its employees, the company should seek to identify such hazards at all of its locations and correct them if they exist," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "One means of addressing and eliminating new and recurring hazards is through an illness and injury prevention program in which management and workers proactively identify and eliminate hazardous conditions on a continual basis."