Wal-Mart Settles OSHA Case Over Cleaning Procedures.
Source: nyt
Wal-Mart Stores has agreed to a corporatewide settlement to improve safety conditions related to trash compactors and cleaning chemicals in more than 2,800 of its stores, the United States Department of Labor announced on Wednesday.
Wal-Mart agreed to the settlement, which includes paying a $190,000 fine, after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor Department, accused the retailer of putting workers who operate trash compactors in danger. The settlement stemmed from violations found at a Walmart store in Rochester in 2011.
Under the settlement, Walmart’s trash compactors must remain locked when not in use, and may not be operated except under the supervision of a trained manager or monitor. Wal-Mart also pledged to improve training for workers using cleaning chemicals and to upgrade procedures so that workers did not handle undiluted chemicals.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/business/wal-mart-settles-osha-case-over-cleaning-procedures.html?hp
= new reply since forum marked as read
They do NOT want employees throwing empty cardboard boxes and un-written-off merchandise in the compactor because there's money involved, so you have to find a "coach" (their term for an assistant store manager - you address these folks as "Coach (name)"
to get the compactor unlocked and to have what you're throwing away approved.
Chemicals are another matter entirely.
