OSHA hits Target with nearly $30,000 in fines after Pennsylvania worker crushed to death

Federal regulators fined Target nearly $30,000 after a workplace death in Pennsylvania, less than a year after the Minneapolis-based retailer received a much higher fine for an employee death in Massachusetts.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued two violations related to the Nov. 1 death at a Pennsdale, Penn., store.

Target is contesting the penalties.

“The safety of our team is always our top priority, and we are deeply saddened by the loss of these two team members,” the company said in a statement. “We work tirelessly to provide a safe working environment, aim to meet or exceed all state and federal guidelines, and have extensive safety and training procedures in place to prevent such incidents from occurring.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA, provided no additional comment beyond the citation details.

According to the citation, the employee died after being trapped between a movable work platform and a door frame while working on a security system in the ceiling.

OSHA investigators issued Target a “serious” violation for not providing a place of employment free of hazards that “would most likely result in death or serious physical harm.”

Target also waited too long before reporting the death to OSHA, the citation noted.

The proposed fine for the serious violation is $16,550 and $13,005 for the “other-than-serious” violation of failing to notify OSHA in a timely manner.

In addition to the financial penalties, the retailer was directed to conduct a comprehensive audit of the facility to determine the location of tight and restricted areas.

Target also must ensure employees are trained in accordance with the operating manual in the use of equipment in tight spaces and restricted areas, according to the citation.

Target was issued a “willful” violation in connection with a February 2024 Massachusetts death. A willful violation is OSHA’s most serious citation, and it is rare.

In connection with that violation, OSHA in November issued $176,000 in fines. The employee died after falling from a forklift at a Target location in Burlington, Mass.

According to the incident report, the employee stepped out of the basket of the forklift to cut plastic straps when he fell.

The company accepted a “repeat” violation fine higher than originally proposed in place of a willful violation. Target was cited in 2019 for similar unsafe conditions in regard to protecting employees from falling or from falling objects in its Attleboro, Mass., store.

The OSHA report said the lift should have activated an “audible beeping” alarm when the employee stepped out of the basket if the lift was above 22 inches. The lift was elevated 7 feet at the time of the accident.

Between May and December 2019, OSHA cited Target for violations in eight locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York involving blocked or obstructed access to emergency exits and fire exit routes and unsafe storage of materials in stores’ backrooms and storage areas.

Target initially contested the citations but reached a settlement in 2020 to pay $464,750 in penalties and to implement enhanced actions to prevent “egress and storage safety issues” at almost 200 stores in the four states over the next two years.