Oregon Dollar Tree Cited After Rodent Infestation

Portland, OR (WorkersCompensation.com) - In the past few years and even in the last few months, the Dollar Tree has been cited by OSHA. Recently, the company was fined again, this time by the Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Administration for having rodents.

The company was slapped with a $1900 fine in connection with work safety violations that stemmed from a rodent infestation in one of its stores in Portland, Oregon. A spokesperson for Oregon OSHA tells WorkersCompensation.com “We received three complaints, which prompted us to open an inspection. Two of the complaints were lodged confidentially. One was lodged anonymously.”

According to documents acquired by WorkersCompensation.com one complaint states that workers were experiencing “nausea, light-headedness, and headaches.” Another complaint from an employer says that they had been exposed to rat urine. Between Aug. 22 and Sept. 13 of this year, investigators from the department made a trip out to the Dollar Store. their inspections resulted in the following allegations:  

• Enclosed workplace(s) were not so constructed, equipped, and maintained as to prevent the entrance or harborage of rodents, insects, or other vermin; a continuing and effective extermination program was not instituted where their presence was detected. Rodent droppings and evidence of mice carcasses were found.
• At the time of the inspection the facility did not have an eyewash for employees handling bleach solutions to clean the shelves. Three samples of the bleach solutions were taken and showed pH values that were significantly high.
• The employer did not ensure that each affected employee used appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, or potentially injurious light radiation. At the time of the inspection, the employer did not ensure that employees handling hazardous chemicals (bleach solution with a pH of 12.8, 12.4, and 11.5) were wearing eye protection.
• At the time of the inspection, the employer could not provide a copy of the safety data sheet for bleach. The store was closed and the employees were using bleach solution to clean shelves of rodent droppings. The employer was asked at each of the three visits for a copy of the safety data sheet (SDS) for bleach. Corporate provided the inspector a copy of the SDS but one was not available at the store while employees were using it.

“People have a right to a safe and healthy workplace, and it’s an employer’s responsibility to identify hazards, and to put measures in place to control or eliminate those hazards. In addition to our enforcement activity,” an Oregon OSHA spokesperson told WorkersCompensation.com in response to the importance of an employer to ensure the safety of its workers. “Oregon OSHA offers employers free consultation services. Our consultation services cannot result in an enforcement action. They include safety and health hazard assessments, recommendations to control and eliminate hazards, and hands-on training.”

The affected Dollar Tree store was shut down temporarily in August after a local news station had revealed evidence of the rodent infestation, according to a press release. There had allegedly been rodent feces, chewed-up labels as well as food packages that had been punctured. The statement said that an employer of this Dollar Tree store had filed a lawsuit in September against the company. The worker claimed that he had been made to clean up rodent feces and urine in the store without the appropriate equipment.

In 2015 Dollar Tree acquired the store Family Dollar, which has allegedly experienced similar infestations in its stores this year and last year that were located in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia.

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