Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

A ruling has finally been made regarding the crowd management fatality case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. according to a recent announcement by U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

The Chief Judge of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is upholding the decision to cite Wal-Mart at full penalty for failure to manage crowd control following an incident on Black Friday in November of 2008 which lead to the death of one of their workers.

We often think of crowd control issues during peak shopping periods but merchants are reminded to take crowd management seriously everyday of the year in order to avoid workers' compensation injuries in Chicago and throughout the country.

Our personal injury lawyers in Illinois frequently handle cases of negligence or premises liability by an employer or merchant. The responsibility lies at the hands of the company to make sure the property is safe for both workers and patrons.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was cited by OSHA for one serious citation under the General Duty Clause back in May 2009 for failure to recognize hazards of asphyxiation or crushed by a crowd. This was following an investigation of an incident where an employee was trampled to death at one the New York locations. The worker was killed after being crushed by the onslaught of 2,000 shoppers rushing into the store for the holiday sales event. Wal-Mart was fined the maximum penalty for failing to implement effective crowd control measures which is $7,000.

"Today's ruling supports OSHA's position that, even in the absence of a specific rule or standard, employers are still legally responsible for providing a place of employment free of recognized hazards that are likely to cause serious injury or death," said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. "If not properly managed by retailers, a large crowd poses a significant threat to the lives of workers and customers."

As we previously posted on our Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog lack of safety planning puts employees and patrons at high risk for injury on your property. There are steps that can be taken to prevent this, such as barricades or rope lines, well-lit signs for emergency exits, and maintaining a smooth flow of traffic.

As the weather continues to get warmer, patrons will be looking for things to do. Customers can prevent an accident from occurring by removing themselves from large crowds. However, the merchant or service provider has a responsibility to foresee dangerous situations and prevent them from happening. Negligence and liability should be taken seriously in order to prevent serious injuries that can lead to expensive consequences.