{"id":1670,"date":"2014-02-04T09:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T09:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com\/blog\/?p=1670"},"modified":"2024-06-11T10:58:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T10:58:51","slug":"best-buy-emergency-exit-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydoorsign.com/blog\/best-buy-emergency-exit-fines\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Best Buy faces emergency exit fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Best Buy in Brooklyn has been cited for blocking an emergency exit, according to reports by The Brooklyn Eagle. Penalized by the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the retailer \u2014 which had previously been fined for a blocked exit in another location \u2014 will answer to a proposed fine of $27,500.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This Best Buy lacked an accessible emergency exit. From Best Buy<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kay Gee, OSHA\u2019s area director for Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, told the Eagle: \u201cRetail operations can and do contain significant hazards. This was not the first time that Best Buy has been cited for this type of hazard\u2026 Employers must take effective steps to ensure that safety measures are in place and in use at all their workplaces and that hazards do not recur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investigation into the incident began on December 2, when a shopper shared a photo of “an apparently blocked” exit. OSHA inspectors discovered that the Best Buy storefront exit was blocked by a printer, an equipment rack, and a stack of boxes \u2014 all of which could impede customers from exiting the store in the event of an emergency. A Best Buy location in Springfield, Pennsylvania was cited by OHSA in December 2008 for a similar violation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne way to prevent hazards before they occur is for an employer to implement an effective illness and injury prevention program in which they will work with their employees to identify, address and eliminate hazards,\u201d Robert Kulick, OSHA regional administrator in New York, told the Eagle.<\/p>\n

As for next steps, Best Buy is granted 15 business days from the time it received the citation and proposed fines to comply, meet with OSHA\u2019s area director, or argue against the charges with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.<\/p>\n

OSHA provides detailed requirements for workplace exit routes, necessary safety features for exit routes, as well as design and construction requirements. For example, a workplace must usually maintain at least two exit routes, though more may be necessary depending on the size and arrangement of the workplace and the number of workers.<\/p>\n

\"emergency<\/a>

Forever 21 has faced similar fines. From we’ll become silhouettes<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Safety features for exit routes include, among others, keeping the area free of highly flammable items and of decorations or signs that prevent workers from seeing exit route doors; setting up routes that avoid hazardous areas; and, as relevant to Best Buy, ensuring that \u201cexit routes are free and unobstructed by materials, equipment, locked doors, or dead-end corridors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best Buy isn\u2019t the only recent offender. Two Forever 21 locations, one in New York City and one in Paramus, New Jersey, were recently cited<\/a> \u2014 again \u2014 by OSHA for blocked exits, among other violations. OSHA recommended the clothing retailer be hit with fines of $236,500. \u201cIt is unacceptable for Forever 21 to continue repeating these violations, which are common among retailers, and put workers at serious risk,\u201d Kulick had said in a statement. \u201cRetail managers have a legal responsibility to inspect their stores, identify potential hazards and quickly eliminate them to ensure worker safety and health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have a complaint about a workplace hazard? Call OSHA at 800-321-6742, or visit their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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