Dollar General is being hit again with over $1.6 million in fines for worker safety violations after visits by federal inspectors to four locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, the Department of Labor said earlier this week.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the company, along with Dolgencorp LLC — operator of more than 18,000 Dollar General discount stores in 47 states — faces $1,680,216 in proposed penalties after these inspections, a portion of the more than $9.6 million in total initial penalties the company has received since 2017.

OSHA said in a statement that it conducted inspections in April 2022 in Mobile and Grove Hill, Ala.; Tampa, Fla.; and Dewy Rose, Ga. Inspectors cited the retailer for four willful and 10 repeat violations for failing to keep receiving and storage areas clean and orderly, and stacking materials in an unsafe manner.

OSHA citations also included those for exposing workers to fire and entrapment hazards by failing to keep exit routes and electrical panels clear and unobstructed. Additionally, the company received citations for failing to mount and label fire extinguishers, and having a locked exit door that required a key to open.

The government administration added that Dollar General has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

“Once again, our inspectors have found Dollar General stores ignoring federal safety standards and exposing their employees to hazardous working conditions in violation of the law,” Doug Parker, assistant secretary for occupational safety and health said in a statement. “We will use our full enforcement powers to hold Dollar General accountable for its ongoing pattern of behavior until they show that they take worker safety seriously.”

Since 2017, OSHA has conducted 182 inspections at Dollar General locations nationwide where agency inspectors often find unsafe conditions that put workers’ safety at risk if they need to exit quickly in an emergency.

The violations found in the April inspections mirror the types typically found by OSHA at Dollar General locations across the nation, and those identified in the last 11 months at five other stores in the Southeast.