From heat exhaustion to accidents in freezers, Walmart employees nationwide continue to face hazardous working conditions, leading to serious injuries and deaths. Despite repeated incidents, critics say the company has shown little urgency in addressing safety concerns.
An employee at the Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, location suffered a traumatic amputation of their left middle finger on November 11th, 2023, when a freezer door suddenly slammed shut while they handled frozen items.
The freezer door incident in Waynesburg occurred two years after Janikka Perry was found unresponsive at her workplace—a Walmart Supercenter in North Little Rock, Arkansas—after reportedly feeling ill but fearing repercussions for calling off, according to Business Insider.
Perry’s death was not recorded by the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or considered a workplace-related death. While Perry was off the clock at the time of her death, she was allegedly told to ‘pull herself together’ during her shift by a general manager.
While the data available explains several tragic incidents involving Walmart employees, it may not capture the full extent of Walmart’s practices. Some workplace deaths and injuries, like Perry’s, have not been officially recorded by OSHA as work-related, raising concerns about underreporting.
The Daily Dot obtained 244 recorded reports from the OSHA documenting alleged hazards at Walmart locations since January 2023. The documents focused specifically on issues related to freezers, ovens, heat exposure, storage, and employee breaks.
Overheating Ovens Can Lead to Overheating Employees
Walmart’s reputation for unsafe ovens is often linked to the tragic death of Gursimran Kaur, a former 19-year-old Walmart employee in Canada, who died in an incident involving a walk-in oven in the store’s bakery department on October 19th, 2024.
While the investigation concluded that her death was not suspicious, many concerns have flooded OSHA’s inbox since.
In May 2023, employees at a Walmart in Coldwater, Michigan, were exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide leaking from a faulty oven—an issue management allegedly ignored even after being told employees were exposed.
“He said it would run higher while it was on, and every time we opened the door, we were getting faces full of carbon monoxide,” summarizing the oven technician’s explanation, according to documents obtained by The Daily Dot.
Management’s only effort to fix the issue was asking the tech when a new oven would be available. Shortly after, an associate was hospitalized with carbon monoxide detected in her blood at 10%, which is 2% to 4% higher than an individual who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, according to Sanford Health.
“We do not have access to drinking water or a first aid kit. We are running a rotisserie oven and fryers that put off a lot of heat, combined with the lack of air ventilation, created an unsafe environment,” a report from the Deli Department of a Walmart located in Topeka, Kansas, wrote to the OSHA.
“I am asking for safer working conditions,” the employee wrote. A heat wave in August 2023 subjected employees to unusually hot working conditions.
At a Walmart location in Wareham, Massachusetts, employees have reported a lack of proper safety equipment for handling dangerous tasks.
“Employees are exposed to multiple chemical hazards while not provided with proper PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] to protect them while using the Ecolab Greaselift degreaser to clean the stoves, grills, ovens, tables, and other items in the deli area,” read the statement in Feb. 2024. They were additionally not trained to mix and handle the hazardous product properly.
In October 2024, employees of a Walmart located in Dixon, California, also reported that management failed to provide training or instructions on how to use the store’s ovens properly, and did not address or identify workplace hazards or unsafe conditions.
Walmart Freezers and the Lack of Safety on Ice
Beyond the severe consequences of mold and ice buildup on the ground, Walmart’s freezers have been the site of the most reported safety issues across the company’s locations since January 2023.
“Automatic door in the freezer section of the Walmart automatically closed onto the employee’s head, causing head and neck injuries,” a report from a franchise located in Bayonne, New Jersey, explained in October 2023. The new door did not have a safety sensor to prevent the same issue.
In Arcadia, Florida, associates reported being exposed to dangerously cold temperatures as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit due to a malfunctioning freezer door in February 2024.
“Employees are working in the water filler freezer with a broken door for 10 hrs a day, resulting in the freezer reaching temperatures of below -20 degrees F, creating health hazards from pneumonia for employees.” Despite these conditions, the broken door went unrepaired for over a week, forcing workers to face freezing temperatures without proper PPE.
In stores where Walmart does provide the correct PPE, employees have reported concerns about the cleanliness and sanitary condition of the gear.
“Store use jackets for use in the freezers and coolers are infested with bedbugs. An associate was wearing a jacket and their arm was covered in bites immediately,” reports described the equipment provided by a Walmart in Glendale, Kentucky, in September 2023.
Management was aware of the issue, but told associates not to throw the jackets away, but instead to use bug spray on them. Employees were especially bothered as store jackets were kept in the same area as their personal jackets, which were then infested with bed bugs.
In Holly Springs, North Carolina, a July 2023 report shared that employees were not trained on what to do in an emergency situation, including fire and active shooter emergencies.
Some of the OSHA reports detail issues that aren’t limited to affecting employees, but also customers.
“The restrooms are not sanitary due to not being cleaned often enough: blood, urine, and/or vomit is often present,” read a report from a Wake Forest, North Carolina supercenter in March 2024.
Weeks later, a supercenter located in Elk Grove, California, had exposed electrical wires in a freezer containing ice cream. The freezer was located on the sales floor, where customers could reach in.
While customer-facing hazards raise immediate public concern, conditions behind the scenes in employee-only areas often pose even greater risks to safety.
“In the back stockroom, employees are told to climb shelves to retrieve product,” a concern recorded from a location in Newton, Kansas, in December 2024.
A national supercenter employee in Asheville, North Carolina, fell off a ladder in the freezer while losing her balance on April 14th, 2024.
“She hit her left knee on a shelf, texted a co-worker stating that her leg was broken, and was transported by EMS and admitted to the hospital for surgery on her left leg,” the report wrote. Notably, the role of management in the incident was not mentioned.
Behind Cold Doors of the Refrigerator, Safety Concerns Heat Up
The refrigerator section of Walmart has raised safety concerns after reports of malfunctioning units and poor maintenance conditions that pose potential risks to both employees and customers.
“Employees are allegedly exposed to mold that is in the back of a plastic flapper where the meat is stored,” detailed a report from a location in Turnersville, New Jersey in Feb. 2023. Mold was also found in the freezer and refrigerator located in the back of the store.
A refrigerator located at a Walmart in Pueblo, Colorado, was also leaking freon in Aug. 2023, which exposed employees to airborne contaminants. At the same time, a refrigerator from a Dekalb, Illinois, location exposed employees to foodborne illnesses.
When Silence is Policy, Employee Mistreatment is Routine
“Employees exposed to workplace violence due to harassment and verbal abuse,” a report from a Coconut Creek, Florida location read in April 2023. The report did not detail what the harassment or verbal abuse towards employees was, including who it came from.
However, some abuse of Walmart’s employees came directly from customers.
On December 31st, 2022, an employee located in Waxahachie, Texas, was walking to his car off the clock when two individuals wearing ski masks ordered him to give them his keys.
“One (1) of the individuals pulled a firearm and fired multiple shots and struck the employee twice,” the OSHA report stated. The 18-year-old victim was hospitalized with numerous gunshot wounds.
“Employees have been noted to fear for their physical safety due to the daily threats of assault and verbal abuse from abrasive customers,” a report explained the working conditions of Walmart locations in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2023. The concerns from this location added that employees lacked support from management during this time.
What This Means for Walmart
The obtained OSHA reports paint a disturbing picture of persistent and widespread safety violations across Walmart locations nationwide.
From extreme temperatures and chemical hazards to a lack of basic safety protocols, employees across multiple states have reported conditions that jeopardize their health and well-being on a daily basis.
Despite being the largest private employer in the United States, Walmart has faced repeated attention for its treatment of employees. The company’s focus on operational efficiency and profit has come at the expense of basic worker protections.
As the number of serious incidents grows, so too does the call for Walmart to take meaningful action before more lives are put at risk.
OSHA did not respond to a Daily Dot request for comment beyond its initial documents. Walmart also did not provide a public statement addressing the reported violations at the time of publication.
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