OSHA urges Big Lots to strengthen workplace violence prevention

Big Lots closed more than 400 stores in 2024, laid off more than 500 corporate employees in December 2024, including CEO Bruce Thorn, and its store locator now shows 219 locations. Fewer stores and leaner staffing leave workers carrying more responsibility on busy shifts, especially when customers are frustrated, lines are long or an employee is the only associate available to step in.

OSHA defines workplace violence to include threats, verbal abuse, intimidation and physical assaults, and it flags retail workers who handle money, work alone or stay on the floor late at night as facing added risk. A difficult return at the register, a closing-time argument, or an associate left alone with a suspicious customer and no immediate backup can turn into workplace violence at Big Lots.

OSHA's late-night retail recommendations date to 1998 and were republished in 2009. Employers should assess their workplaces for violence risks and, if needed, build a site-specific prevention program or fold the information into an employee handbook, accident-prevention program or standard operating procedures manual. Workers need a clear way to report threats, leave unsafe situations and get management support quickly, without retaliation for speaking up.

A 2024 retail-safety report found that 35% of retail workers felt unsafe at work, physical assault reports rose 22% year over year, and nearly 40% said theft and verbal harassment worry them most or every time they go to work. Another 2024 report found 1,459 firearm-related incidents and 551 fatalities at retail locations, and a Loss Prevention Research Council and Verkada report found retail locations overtook schools as the most common setting for gun-related incidents in the United States that year.

In September 2024, New York enacted the Retail Safety Worker Act, which requires commerce employers with at least 10 workers to adopt a retail workplace violence prevention program.