The Department of Labor and Industries has fined Dollar Tree Stores Inc. $142,500 for “workplace safety violations that knowingly put workers at risk,” according to an L&I statement Thursday.

The repeat-serious violation was for not installing protective guarding or covers over light fixtures that could be struck and broken by the stacked merchandise, which could in turn cause cuts or other injuries to employees. The corporation was previously fined for a similar violation at its Chehalis store.

A call from The Daily World to the Aberdeen Dollar Tree was met with a “no comment.” Initial attempts to contact Dollar Tree corporate headquarters in Chesapeake, Va. have gone unanswered. L&I states Dollar Tree Inc. has 15 business days to appeal the citation. Penalty money paid as a result of a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping injured workers and families of those who have died on the job.

Labor &Industries documents said two “willful safety violations” – issued when L&I has evidence of plain indifference, a substitution of judgment or an intentional disregard to a hazard or rule – cost the company the maximum $70,000 each. Another $5,200 was for a “repeat-serious violation,” described as a hazardous condition with a substantial probability of causing worker death or serious physical harm. The two willful safety violations were for storing merchandise in a way that “created a serious hazard,” and failure to ensure exit routes were free of obstructions.

“Improperly stored merchandise can fall on employees, causing serious injuries,” said L&I in a statement. The inspection found the storage room “a crowded jumble of stacked boxes, bundles and containers that weren’t secured and could topple over at any moment.” Some of the stacks were nine feet high, with heavy boxes stacked on top of lighter boxes. In addition, several doorways were obstructed with merchandise, some of it considered “hazardous,” including helium tanks, lighters and plastic materials.