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.
