OSHA Slaps Adidas With Nearly $400k in Fines Over Warehouse Safety
In one agency’s book, Adidas isn’t the three stripes brand; it’s the three strikes brand.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced August 9 that it has issued $396,377 in fines to Adidas America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the German sportswear company. OSHA said in a release that the fines come after the company failed to rectify safety issues in a warehouse in Orange County, New York.
According to the safety watchdog, a 2021 inspection found Adidas’ lack of guardrails and an unsafe ladder could cause employees to fall up to 10 feet down to the floor below. Because of the issues, OSHA cited Adidas in March 2022.
By January, OSHA contested, Adidas failed to prove it had addressed the violations. OSHA had mandated that the company install guardrails or another protective measure for employees working on a mezzanine. It had also required that a ladder to access the mezzanine be extended so that it measured at least three feet above the landing.
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The regulatory agency said, upon visiting the warehouse this year, it discovered Adidas had still not corrected the violations.
Rita Young, OSHA area director in Albany, N.Y., said the company should have heeded OSHA’s warnings and demands the first time around.
“When employers agree to correct a hazard, they must follow through and prove to OSHA that the hazards were addressed,” Young said in a statement. “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 noted that this violation is not the only one Adidas has come up against recently, noting that the company has received fall hazard citations at its Chester, N.Y., warehouse, resulting in $17,403 in penalties.
“Adidas is committed to the health and safety of our employees,” a spokesperson for the company told FN sister publication Sourcing Journal. “Our facilities fully adhere to OSHA compliance requirements, and we are working with OSHA to resolve the matter.”
