Retail Worker Hazard Alert: Keeping Gas Station Convenience Store Workers Safe - Washington

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  Two gas station convenience store cashiers died in separate late night and early morning armed robberies. Between 2013 and 2022, a total of 265 workers at gas station convenience stores were killed by other people in intentional acts of violence, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Killings at gas stations represented 31 percent of deadly intentional violence in all retail industries, with 75 percent done by robbers who shot their victims in most cases. Protecting cashiers requires implementing a written violence prevention program, robbery response training, and effective store security features. TIPS TO LIVE BY: 1) Conduct a worksite safety and security assessment. Conduct a store security assessment to identify hazards, conditions, operations, and situations that could lead to violence. Avoid having lone workers and improve store layout, lighting, visibility, video, cash limit signage, cash control methods, and incident tracking. Follow OSHA's recommendations for workplace violence prevention programs in late-night retail establishments. If possible, hire a certified retail security consultant to assess risks. 2) Have a written violence prevention program. Develop a workplace violence prevention program with clear, store-specific policies as part of your written APP. Policies can be standard operating procedures (SOP) or step-by-step instructions in a standalone document or in a worker handbook. Policies can instruct workers how to: lock doors and storage areas; make sure lights, panic buttons, alarms, and surveillance systems work properly; not engage robbers or resist their demands; call 911 and management; and make frequent cash deposits using "drop safes" to minimize cash kept in the register. 3) Provide documented robbery response training. Initial training should be part of every new hire safety orientation and refresher training should recur at least once a year. Training basics should cover where all exits, alarms, panic buttons, and emergency information are located, how to look for signs that a robbery or violent attack is about to happen, how to de-escalate an emerging robbery situation, and how to render first-aid. Use a variety of training resources, such as handouts, fatality and injury narratives, videos, webinars, and hands-on scenarios. Make sure to document training and keep records on file. Evaluate the training program regularly and find ways to enhance it. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Homicide
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Violence
  • Workplace Violence
• Keywords:
  • Retail workers
  • Workplace violence
  • Homicides
  • Violence prevention
  • Safety education
  • Training
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  All
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  San Francisco Region OSHA ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1 pdf page
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071755
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 47-36-2026, 2026 Mar; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  457110 - Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259980/cdc_259980_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 277.75 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:55bf1f37d2d1c9ea0af2817556cca65b00b53d0d4f388389548d9e974629222b5c3b974dd6f0517dad7ee97a4f0117d50cb5d0e8808f81a66682997c1be58a5c