OSHA Cites Wal-Mart Stores Following Crushing Death of Worker at Long Island, N.Y., Store
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 |
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The
U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) has cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for inadequate
crowd management following the Nov. 28, 2008, death of an employee at
its Valley Stream, N.Y., store. The worker died of asphyxiation after
he was knocked to the ground and trampled by a crowd of about 2,000
shoppers who surged into the store for its annual "Blitz Friday"
pre-holiday sales event.
OSHA's inspection found that the
store's employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the
store's failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management
principles. This failure includes providing employees with the
necessary training and tools to safely manage the large crowd of
shoppers.
"This was an unusual situation but not an unforeseen
one," said Anthony Ciuffo, OSHA's acting area director for Long Island.
"The store should have recognized, based on prior "Blitz Friday"
experiences, the need to implement effective crowd management to
protect its employees."
As a result, OSHA has issued Wal-Mart
one serious citation under its general duty clause for exposing workers
to the recognized hazard of being crushed by the crowd. The citation
carries a proposed fine of $7,000, the maximum penalty amount for a
serious violation allowed under the law. OSHA issues serious citations
when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards
about which the employer knew or should have known.
"Effective
planning and crowd management could have prevented this incident and
its grave consequences," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional
administrator in New York. "Wal-Mart must now take steps to ensure that
a situation such as this one never happens again."
Wal-Mart has
15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties
to comply, participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area
director, or contest the citations before the independent Occupational
Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by
OSHA's Long Island Area Office in Westbury, N.Y.; telephone
516-334-3344.
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