Oregon OSHA fines Safeway $7,250 for workplace safety violations at Bend shooting scene – KTVZ

Company says emergency exit was blocked, retailer didn’t evaluation emergency exit plan with new staff

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A criticism led Oregon’s office security company to research the August 2022 taking pictures on the east Bend Safeway, the place a gunman fired quite a few pictures and killed a employee and buyer, then killed himself as police approached. The investigation led to Safeway being fined $7,250 for 2 violations.

Authorities mentioned the gunman fired at the very least 100 pictures earlier than and after coming into the shop, killing buyer Glenn Bennett, 84, and later killing produce division worker Donald Surrett Jr., 66, who had hidden, then confronted the gunman with a produce knife.

A confidential criticism was filed in September with the Oregon Occupational Security and Well being Company (Oregon OSHA), which led to the investigation and the company’s Jan. 11 discover of penalty to Safeway Inc. about what it discovered on the retailer on NE Freeway 20. It offered a replica of a 212-page report that included quite a few interviews with staff and others, and background akin to security assembly notes and the emergency plan.

The vast majority of the high-quality, $6,500, was levied for obstruction of entry to exit routes, as OSHA mentioned it discovered the corporate “didn’t be sure that all exit routes positioned within the rear part of the shop have been away from obstructions that might prohibit or delay an worker’s means to egress from the constructing.”

“Because of this, throughout an energetic shooter occasion that befell on August 28, 2022, the double door exit positioned subsequent to the dairy cooler part was obstructed by roughly three merchandise carts that have been saved in entrance of the exit doorways,” the discover said. A worksheet indicated that video footage confirmed staff’ statements that they have been blocked by beverage carts.

One other $750 proposed penalty states that Safeway “didn’t evaluation the emergency motion plan with every lined worker when the plan was new or the worker was new to the job.”

“Because of this, throughout an energetic shooter occasion, staff didn’t know the placement for every emergency exit task positioned throughout the retailer,” OSHA mentioned, giving the corporate till Saturday to abate the violation.

Safeway was given 30 days to attraction the proposed fines, which the corporate is contemplating, in keeping with spokeswoman Jill McGinnis.

“The security of our associates and prospects is our highest precedence, which is why we make emergency evacuation coaching a routine a part of our retailer coaching,” McGinnis mentioned. “We’re grateful that these associates who shortly evacuated the shop have been ready to take action unhindered.”

A violation is labeled as “critical” when it led to, or may have led to bodily hurt and damage, Oregon OSHA Public Info Officer Aaron Corvin mentioned.

One particular person interviewed was quoted as saying that “each doorways have been blocked. I solely had time to maneuver issues from in entrance of 1 door. Which made escaping in the course of the taking pictures virtually deadly. As a result of it took about 2-4 additional minutes to maneuver the gadgets.”

It quoted supervisors as saying the blocked exits occurred a number of occasions per week and that “blocked exists and walkways have been an issue for years … nicely over 10 years,” with nothing accomplished to appropriate the issue.

The doc mentioned the shop has a documented emergency retailer response plan, nevertheless it didn’t listing an exit map. Actually, it mentioned, “Workers said they by no means knew that an emergency exit was close to the dairy till after the energetic shooter incident.”