OSHA fines H-E-B $17,878 after warehouse death investigation

A forklift death investigation at H-E-B ended with a $17,878 OSHA penalty, after regulators said the San Antonio warehouse had both training lapses and hazardous walking areas tied to Teresa Dominguez’s death.

OSHA said the citation involved two violations from the October 2025 incident. One centered on H-E-B’s failure to reevaluate 30 employees for forklift training within the required three-year window. Under OSHA’s powered industrial truck rule, operators need refresher training and an evaluation, and that review has to happen at least every three years, or sooner if conditions or unsafe operation demand it. The other violation involved walking-working surfaces, where OSHA said hazardous areas were not guarded with handrails or guardrails. Those rules require safe access and egress and surfaces kept free of hazards.

For Dollar General workers, that is the practical lesson. If you are expected to work near forklifts, pallet jacks or other powered equipment, you should already have current training, a documented evaluation, and a clear traffic plan that separates people from moving equipment. You should also expect aisles kept open, storage that does not block walk paths, and barriers or handrails where a drop-off, platform or edge creates a fall risk. If those basics are missing, the problem is not cosmetic. It is the sort of failure OSHA still cites.

H-E-B said it cooperated fully with the investigation and continued to evaluate and improve its safety practices, training and procedures. The company’s warehouse had already been the site of another workplace death in April 2026, when Austin Flores died after a blunt-force injury. Local reporting said Flores was 27 and died a day before his 28th birthday.

The case lands in a retail environment where Dollar General has already faced major federal scrutiny. OSHA announced a corporate-wide settlement with the chain on July 11, 2024, requiring Dollar General to pay $12 million and make safety changes across the company, including more safety staffing, training for managers and non-managers, a safety committee and faster correction of blocked exits and storage hazards. OSHA said certain hazards generally have to be corrected within 48 hours under that settlement.

For store associates, district managers and warehouse employees, the message is plain: if training is stale, traffic lanes are blurred, or equipment is moving where people walk, raise it immediately through your supervisor, district leadership or safety channels, and document the hazard. If the company does not act, OSHA can become the next stop.