Ashley Furniture Issued Citations After OSHA Finds Serious, Willful Safety Violations

Author: Ashley Shaw, XpertHR Legal Editor

February 18, 2015

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued several citations to the nation's largest furniture retailer, Ashley Furniture, for willful, serious and repeat violations of health and safety standards. This case demonstrates to employers the importance of creating a safe and healthy workplace.

In a three-and-a-half year period, the furniture chain's Arcadia, Wisconsin plant had over 1,000 workplace injuries. In all, OSHA found 12 willful violations, 14 serious violations and 12 repeat violations. Ashley Furniture was previously cited for violations found during a 2014 inspection initiated after the partial amputation of a worker's finger.

OSHA performed this inspection after an employee lost three fingers while operating a woodworking machine without the proper safety guards in place. Over 100 of the injuries discovered occurred while using similar machinery.

"Ashley Furniture has created a culture that values production and profit over worker safety, and employees are paying the price," Thomas E. Perez, US Secretary of Labor, stated in a press release. "Safety and profits are not an 'either, or' proposition. Successful companies across this nation have both."

Ashley's citations add up to $1,766,000 in fines. In addition, Ashley must abate the violations in the manner prescribed by OSHA. Finally, OSHA has placed the furniture retailer on its Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Under this program, Ashley Furniture will be subject to targeted follow-up inspections.

Since 1982, Ashley has been subject to 33 federal inspections, four of which were conducted as the result of an amputation, and 23 state plan inspections. As a result of the federal inspections, Ashley Furniture has been issued a number of citations, including citations for 96 serious violations.

Ashley Furniture has 15 working days from the date OSHA issued the citations, January 29, to comply, schedule an informal conference or contest the citations.