OSHA Fines Trader Joe's For Forklift Safety Violations
Trader Joe’s has been fined more than $216,000 by the U.S. Department of Labor for safety hazards related to unsafe forklift operations at a store in Colorado, the federal agency said in a press release.
According to the labor department, a December 2023 inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the Trader Joe’s at 5910 South University Blvd. in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village found safety hazards associated with unsafe forklift operations and lack of training for forklift operators.
OSHA said it cited Trader Joe’s for lack of adequate safety training for forklift operators and failing to inspect forklifts at the Greenwood Village location. The grocer had been cited for violating these same standards in three prior OSHA inspections in Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts.
Additionally, the company was also cited for repeatedly blocking and rendering inaccessible electrical equipment with boxes, a violation that Trader Joe’s was previously cited for in Maine, New York and New Jersey.
Proposed penalties following the Colorado inspection total $216,902.
“Employers must comply with all federal safety standards, including forklift safety training and keeping areas around electrical equipment clear to help prevent serious injuries and fatal incidents,” said Chad Vivian, OSHA area director in Englewood, Co. “We will continue to cite companies that fail to implement the measures necessary to protect their employees from these hazards.”
Nakia Rohde, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s said, “We have a safety plan in place (and) each store is doing the work to prevent this from continuing in the future.”
Chauntra Rideaux, a labor department spokesperson, said the violations were found during a programmed inspection initiated under OHSA’s Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program.
