Ashley Furniture to pay $1.75M to settle safety citations

Jun. 10, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says Ashley Furniture, a retailer of home furnishings, has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle alleged safety violations at its plants in Arcadia and Whitehall, Wisc., and in Ecru and Ripley, Miss.

The corporate-wide settlement agreement aims to protect workers from machine hazards and also resolves all pending OSHA citations at the four plants, said the OSHA, adding that under the agreement, the retailer will retain a vice-president for safety, implement safety measures to protect employees, and submit annual status reports to OSHA during the two-year agreement.
 
Ashley will also conduct periodic audits of facilities to identify machine hazards, as well as an annual review of the effectiveness of the program, develop internal corporate monitoring provisions, and identify a corporate officer or senior managers who will act as a designated official responsible for implementation and oversight of the agreement.

— With files from The Associated Press