CVS Pharmacy: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jan 6, 2014: Store manager sustains injuries in fall down stairs

On January 6, 2014, the employee was working as a manager at a CVS retail facili ty in Santa Margarita, CA. He was not a contract employee. The employer was a re tailer of medications and other household items. The employee was in the back st orage room. He was coming down a set of stairs with a ream of computer paper in his hand. These stairs had 19 steps without any bend. They had appropriate handr ails. Somehow he lost his balance and fell from the midpoint of the stairs down to a concrete floor. There was no slip or trip hazard or any lack of illuminatio n. The employee sustained injuries to his right shoulder and back. He was treate d and hospitalized for four days. The employer reported the incident to DOSH on January 8, 2014.

Incident on Nov 24, 2013: Employee falls from ladder, receives multiple injuries

On November 24, 2013, Employee #1 was working in the stockroom of a drug and gen eral retail store, arranging some of its merchandise on the shelves. He was on a 6 ft stepladder. As he arranged the merchandise, he possibly lost consciousness and then lost his balance, falling onto a concrete floor. The ladder did not fa ll. No one saw him fall, a coworker found him unconscious on the floor. Employee #1 was found unconscious possibly due to head injury, and he suffered an injury to his right ankle. He was transported to a medical center, where he was treate d and then hospitalized for two days.

Incident on Nov 28, 2012 (fatal): Employee collaspes while packing pharmaceutials, dies

On November 28, 2012, Employee #1 was packing a pharmaceutical order in the logi stic facility when the employee collapsed onto the floor. Employee #1 was transp orted to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Orange County Coron er determined Employee #1's death was heart failure.

Incident on Aug 9, 2010: Employee is struck and injured by falling boxes

At 1:00 p.m. on August 9, 2010, Employee #1, a store manager who had worked for three years at a pharmacy that is part of an integrated pharmacy health care com pany, started her shift. Employee #1 was supervising employees throughout the st ore and checking on what needed to be done that day. A coworker, who started his shift at 2:00 p.m., was working in the back room. The coworker and another empl oyee were taking down merchandise boxes from the top of the storage rack. The co worker was standing on top of the storage rack and handing down the merchandise boxes to the other employee on the floor. Employee #1 went to the back room, and the employee who was working with the coworker left the back room. The coworker continued to hand down boxes to Employee #1. They encountered a merchandise box that was too heavy for Employee #1, and Employee #1, therefore, asked a vendor, who came into the back room, for help. The vendor took over Employee #1's posit ion and Employee #1 stepped aside. The coworker handed the merchandise box to th e vendor. The box slipped out of the vendor's hand and fell to the floor. As the coworker straightened up, he saw two large boxes falling from the storage rack and towards Employee #1. The coworker shouted, "look out," but it was too late, and the boxes hit Employee #1 on the head. One of the boxes contained folding be ach chairs and the other box contained Crocs shoes. Employee #1 fell to the grou nd, and the coworker came down to the floor to check on her. The coworker called emergency medical services, and paramedics transported Employee #1 to Huntingto n Memorial Hospital. Employee #1 was hospitalized for seven days because of cerv ical and thoracic spine injuries. The top of the storage rack was 88.75 inches f rom the floor and the rack had no guardrails on its open sides. The merchandise boxes were stacked on top of the storage rack without any means to secure them. The accident was caused by failure to store merchandise boxes in a manner that p revented them from tipping, falling, collapsing, rolling, or spreading.

Incident on Mar 31, 2010: Employee suffers multiple fractures in fall from ladder

On March 31, 2010, Employee #1, a store manager, was standing on second or third step, approximately eight feet high, from the top of a ten foot Howard A-frame ladder pulling some robes out of a box which was stored on the shelf. He had pul led two robes and was trying to pull out another using both hands when he lost h is footing. He tried to hang on but fell onto the concrete sink base below and s uffered a compound fracture of right arm, wrist and shoulder and head injury. Em ployee #1 was transported to Mission Viejo Hospital, Mission Viejo Ca, where he had surgery and was hospitalized. The accident was reported to the Division on A pril 15, 2010.

Incident on Dec 5, 2009: Employee's leg is crushed in vehicle accident

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on December 5, 2009, Employee #1 was collecting shopp ing carts in the parking lot of a store. The last cart was spotted toward the en d of the sidewalk that extended in front of the store and past additional storef ronts. While walking and pushing a single cart on the sidewalk, Employee #1 noti ced a vehicle pulling into a parking spot along the sidewalk. Employee #1 then h eard a racing engine and felt the impact of the vehicle as it pinned and crushed his left leg between the car and a pillar that supported a roof over the sidewa lk. Employee #1 was transported to a medical center, where he underwent surgery, including amputation of the crushed leg. Employee #1 was then hospitalized.