No reported worker injuries, but Black Friday stampedes continue
November 30, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: Analysis/Commentary, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, What do you think?
Two years after a Wal-Mart employee was killed by stampeding Black Friday shoppers, it appears retailers have protected their employees to a point where there were no reported serious injuries this year. But as one video shows, the stampedes didn’t go away.
This year, OSHA sent a letter to 14 large U.S. retailers warning them about the dangers of Black Friday shopper stampedes.
Target is one of the retailers that received the letter.
However, video taken by a Buffalo, NY, TV station at a Target shows the stampedes haven’t stopped altogether. No employees were reported injured in this incident, but the video appears to show one shopper bent over in pain after several were shoved to the floor.
To be fair, that wasn’t the situation at all Target stores. Video on this Wisconsin newspaper’s web page shows an employee announcing to shoppers waiting outside the store that “anyone caught walking above a swift walk” would be asked to leave.
At a nearby Toys “R” Us, several thousand shoppers rushed the doors when the store opened, quickly overwhelming employees who shut the doors and called police for assistance. After police arrived, shoppers were allowed in 50 at a time without incident.
The list of Black Friday 2010 incidents includes reports of shoppers with guns and shots fired at other locations.
OSHA has offered a list of best practices to retailers to protect store employees during these shopping extravaganzas.
Do you think it’s possible for retail chains to adequately protect their employees when they advertise “door busters” on Black Friday? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: Black Friday stampede, OSHA best practices, Target, Wal-Mart

November 30th, 2010 at 8:07 am
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December 7th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Retail stores could-and SHALL-do better: #1-don’t have the sale on one day and in a 2-4 hour time-frame—if it’s a price that can’t be beat, then folks will fight for it and that’s when workers (and shoppers) get hurt! #2: have more than 2 or 3 of the items that everyone is fighting for. As I see it, the retail stores themselves are the cause because all they are looking for is the bottom line at the end of the day! They should be held accountable for the “stampeding” crowds. And they should step up, “be the man” and protect their employees who bravely work on this black day. Shoppers, too, need to act like human beings instead of wild animals.
December 7th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I simply refuse to buy into the shopping hype. What kind of person thinks that there are such good deals which warrant the kind of behavior that is demonstrated on black friday. What has our so called “civilization” come to. I let the morons shop and I sleep. It just works better that way.
December 8th, 2010 at 11:42 am
until OSHA regulates, it will continue