OSHA issues Black Friday crowd-control tips to CEOs

The 2008 trampling death of a worker in Walmart's Valley Stream store has prompted a federal agency to send letters and crowd-control tips to chief executives of 14 major retailers, "encouraging" them to take precautions for preventing injuries to workers during major post-Thanksgiving sales.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said this week it had sent the information to the executives.

According to a list the agency posted online, they include chief executives at Wal-Mart, Macy's, Target, Sears and Toys R Us. It's the second year that OSHA has published its crowd-control fact sheet, but it's the first time the agency has focused on chief executives.

The agency noted that the store where the 2008 trampling occurred "was not using the kind of crowd-management measures recommended in OSHA's fact sheet." OSHA confirmed that the statement alluded to the local Walmart.

The recommended measures include: having trained security personnel or police officers on-site; setting up barricades or rope lines for pedestrians, and having an emergency plan in place.

The day after Thanksgiving, known informally as Black Friday, marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. It isn't the busiest shopping day of the holiday season any longer, but it receives the most intense media coverage for its huge crowds and big sales or discounts intended to lure shoppers.

On Black Friday two years ago, seasonal worker Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death in Valley Stream when a stampeding crowd of about 2,000 people broke down the store's doors in search of deeply discounted merchandise.

To avoid criminal prosecution, Wal-Mart last year agreed to a nearly $2 million settlement with Nassau County prosecutors. In May 2009, OSHA cited Wal-Mart for the "serious" violation categorized as "crushing," and fined the retailer $7,000, but Wal-Mart is still disputing the citation, maintaining that protecting workers from crowds was not a federal standard at the time of Damour's death.

"OSHA wants to hold Wal-Mart accountable for a standard that was neither proposed nor issued at the time of the incident," a spokesman said.

At a hearing earlier this year, OSHA's Long Island director said the store's original plan for Black Friday lacked details on the chain of command and locations.

The 14 retailers that received letters this week were selected based on their size, number of stores and "post-Thanksgiving sales events that may attract large crowds," OSHA said.

Macy's, which has 18 stores on Long Island, said the OSHA crowd-control tips represented business as usual for the retail chain.

"They're pretty much identical to what we use at Macy's," spokesman Jim Sluzewski said.

Some of OSHA's tips

• Where large crowds are expected, have trained security or crowd management personnel or police officers on site.

• Based on the size of the crowd expected, determine the number of employees that are needed in various locations to ensure the safety of the event.
• Provide legible and visible signs that describe entrance locations, store opening times and other important information such as the location of major sale items.
• Set up barricades or rope lines for crowd management well in advance of customers arriving at the store.