Workplace Safety Violations: Adidas Faces $396K Fine

OSHA has taken enforcement action against Adidas America Inc., a global athletic apparel and footwear company, for “continuing to ignore” federal workplace safety standards, according to a DOL news release.

The company now faces an additional $396,377 in new OSHA fines.

The penalties stem from uncorrected fall hazards spotted by OSHA investigators in 2021 at a warehouse in Orange County, New York.

OSHA: Violations Weren’t Corrected

In January 2024, OSHA investigators conducted a follow-up inspection at the warehouse because Adidas failed “to submit required proof” to OSHA that the company had installed safety measures to correct the violations found during the 2021 inspection.

At that time, the company was cited for fall hazard violations. Specifically, OSHA investigators said the absence of guardrails and an unsafe ladder exposed Adidas employees to fall hazards of up to 10 feet while they accessed and worked atop a mezzanine.

OSHA cited Adidas for the violations in March 2022. When inspectors returned to the facility in January 2024, they determined the company had not corrected the violations.

“When employers agree to correct a hazard, they must follow through and prove to OSHA that the hazards were addressed,” explained OSHA Area Director Rita Young in Albany, New York. “Adidas America Inc. failed to do so, continued to expose their employees to potentially deadly and disabling injuries and are now liable for additional and sizable OSHA penalties.”

OSHA issued a Failure to Abate notice on top of the citation.

Workplace Safety Resources

When it comes to workplace safety, OSHA’s Warehousing page has plenty of resources to help protect employees from workplace hazards.

It includes tips on:

• Ergonomics
• Forklifts
• Materials handling
• Slips, trips and falls
• Hazardous chemicals
• Emergency planning
• Lockout/tagout
• Heat illness
• Automation and robotics
• Refrigerated warehousing
• Temporary workers, and
• Stress and fatigue.

Plus, the agency’s Stop Falls website offers workplace safety info and videos in English and Spanish to help teach employees about fall hazards and proper safety procedures.