Big Box Stores in Texas Face OSHA Penalties Totaling $369,815
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes safety standards and handles oversight of business establishments throughout the U.S. Big box stores such as Fiesta Mart, L.L.C., Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, and Lowe’s have a responsibility to keep employees safe from injury, though none of them are likely subscribers to the Texas program of workers’ comp insurance. If the stores are found to be in violation of safety regulations, they are cited by OSHA.
Such was the case as a result of three inspections in Texas conducted on either August 11, 2021, or August 12, 2021, at Fiesta Mart, L.L.C. locations. Between the three Texas Fiesta Mart locations, the company was cited for alleged safety violations and faced total combined proposed penalties amounting to $369,815. The issuance date for all these citations was February 7, 2022.
Standard Cited:19100263 E01 V B Bakery equipment.
Standard 1910.263(e)(1)(v)(b) requires that the agitator be prevented from being started without both of the operator’s hands being engaged whenever the bowl is open more than one-fifth of the way. This was listed as an alleged repeat violation, and the proposed penalty was $79,761 against the Fiesta Mart at 1200 E Parker Road in Plano, TX 75075.
Standard Cited:19100212 A03 II General requirements for all machines.
The Fiesta Mart at 9727 Webb Chapel in Dallas, TX 75220 was cited for allegedly violating OSHA Safety Standard 19100212 A03 II, which addresses the point of operation guarding.
- A guard must be added to the point of operation of machines when the employee is exposed to potential injury during operation. Each device must conform to appropriate standards. In the absence of specific standards, the guard must be designed and constructed in a way that prevents the machine operator’s body parts from being in the danger zone during the operating cycle.
This was a repeat violation, and the company faces a total penalty of $145,027.
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