by Jolene Toves

Guam - In an effort to be proactive, the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching a local emphasis program to prevent retail sector injuries and fatalities in the Pacific including Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

According to the USDOLl, the retail industry experienced 262 fatal occupational injuries in 2012 or four per 100 full-time workers compared with the 3.4 rate for all over private sector employees during the same period.

The program will allow OSHA conduct inspections to identify and evaluate hazards within the retail industry. Targeted operation sites, such as clothing stores, department stores, general merchandise stores and other retailers can expect random inspections. Several cited safety and health violations routinely found are related to electrical hazards, unsafe merchandise handling, transportation hazards, fire hazards, exposure to harmful or improper design of exit routes.