Low-price retail giant Wal-Mart settled for $190,000 in response to safety violations the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found in nearly 3,000 stores nationwide.
 
While the violations aren’t medically related—blocked exit routes, lack of training for using a trash compactor, which was also left unsecured, and insufficient staff education on hazardous chemical—physician practices are just as liable for an OSHA audit. 
 
“The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states,” OSHA’s New York director Arthur Dube told USA Today.
 
OSHA reduced Wal-Mart’s fine from $365,000 and the retailer has agreed to correct the violations and “create a safe working environment for its employees.”
 
For tips on how your practice can prepare for and survive an OSHA audit, see your upcoming Medical Practice Compliance Alert.