Dive Brief

• The Los Angeles-based chain Forever 21 was fined $236,500 for unsafe work conditions at stores in New York and Paramus, N.J., according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
   
• In the four-year-old, 90,000-square-foot store in Times Square, OSHA inspectors found repeat violations of obstructed egress and uncovered fluorescent lights as well as safety concerns due to disorder and uncleanliness.
   
• The Paramus store was also fined for repeat violations of obstructed exits, an inaccessible fire extinguisher and improper storage. Both of these stores of the 30-year-old retailer had been inspected and fined in 2012 for similar infractions. 

Dive Insight

While devastating industrial accidents involving lack of egress and other potentially deadly practices in clothing factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia have garnered headlines and caused hand-wringing in the retail industry, safety inspections and fines are also hitting closer to home. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently promised to look more closely at retail outlets, so expect more reports like this unless retailers and their outposts become more mindful of safety issues like these.