US Labor Dept. cites DeMoulas for alleged violations of workplace safety standards

ByJenn Abelson, Globe Staff

The US Department of Labor has cited DeMoulas Supermarkets Inc., which runs the Market Basket grocery chain, for 30 alleged “willful, repeat and serious violations” of workplace safety standards at its stores in Rindge and Concord, N.H.

The Tewksbury company, which has supermarkets in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, faces a total of $589,200 in proposed fines for “recurring fall and laceration hazards and also for improperly responding to a worker’s serious injury,” according to a press release issued today by the Labor Department’s Occupation, Safety, and Health Administration.

James F. Laboe, an attorney for Market Basket said: “Market Basket is currently working in good faith with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) area office located in Concord, N.H., to address concerns raised during recent visits by OSHA inspectors. While the company does not agree with many of the conclusions reached by OSHA, it is confident that common ground can be reached while achieving the mutual goal of promoting a healthy and safe work environment for Market Basket employees.”

The inspection of the Market Basket store in Rindge began after an employee sustained broken bones and head trauma earlier this year when he fell 11 feet to a concrete floor from an inadequately guarded storage mezzanine, according to the press release.. Rather than call for emergency help, store management lifted the injured worker from the floor, put him in a wheelchair, and pushed him to the store’s receiving dock to wait for a relative to take him to the hospital.

The Concord store inspection started in May after an OSHA supervisor observed the same type of fall hazard as the one at the Rindge store. The labor department, in the release, said employees at both grocery stores were exposed to falls from heights greater than 11 feet while working on top of produce coolers, freezers, and storage lofts that lacked adequate guardrails. The agency previously had cited DeMoulas for the same hazard at the Concord store as well as Massachusetts stores in Fitchburg, Lawrence, and Tewksbury.

Employees who worked in the produce, deli, and bakery departments at the Rindge and Concord supermarkets also were exposed to laceration hazards from knives because the grocery chain failed to conduct a hazard assessment and provide hand protection, according to the release. DeMoulas previously was cited by OSHA for the same types of hazards at its Tewksbury and Westford supermarkets.

“Employers with multiple locations have a responsibility to ensure safe and healthful working conditions at all of their workplaces,” David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, said in a statement. “This employer has been cited for similar conditions at numerous other stores. Although those individual hazards were abated, this employer has not taken effective steps to correct these hazards across the board.”

OSHA cited four willful violations with $261,000 in proposed penalties because of the company’s “knowledge of the fall and laceration hazards and its systemic failure to correct them.” A willful violation exists when an employer has demonstrated either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the law or plain indifference to employee safety and health, according to the agency.

OSHA also cited DeMoulas for seven repeat violations with $225,500 in fines for hazardous conditions similar to those previously cited at its Ashland, Andover, Fitchburg, Salem, Tewksbury, and Westford locations.

The company has also been cited for 19 serious violations with $102,700 in proposed penalties for failing to contact emergency service, moving the injured employee, obstructing exit routes, among other violations.

DeMoulas Supermarkets has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings.