My post on this news story hasn’t turned out the way I thought it was going to.
I thought it was going to be about schadenfreude.
Here’s the story from the Atlanta Business Chronical, OSHA fines Home Depot $150K in Ohio. (Home Depot is headquartered in Atlanta.)
There were all sorts of safety violations, including using cords with missing ground pins and failing to inspect them; blocked exit routes; and improper record-keeping.
The reason the fine was so big was because they’d been warned (and given a small fine) but the deficiencies had not been corrected.
Now, what does this have to do with barefooting?
Keep in mind that OSHA applies only to employers and employees. It does not apply to customers. But Home Depot is one of those places that often ban barefoot patrons. For instance, here’s a photo of one of their entrance signs in Delaware.
Home Depot Barefoot Sign
(Click for more readable version.)
So I was all set to write an ironic post on how they spend all this time and money on barefoot signs, promoting a fear regarding safety on something that really isn’t unsafe, while at the same time disregarding the really unsafe stuff.
Did you notice that the store that was fined was in Ohio?
So did I. In fact the story was also in our local Columbus Dispatch: OSHA cites Reynoldsburg Home Depot for safety violations. A spokesman is quoted as saying
Home Depot takes the “safety of our stores and that of our associates and customers extremely seriously,” spokesman Stephen Holmes said. “Our safety team jumps all over problems if they see them, and that’s what they’ve done in this case.”
Maybe they were spending too much time jumping on the fear of safety instead of real safety.
However, the Reynoldsburg Home Depot is my local Home Depot. (I’ve been there maybe only once because of their no-bare-feet signs. There’s a Lowes nearby that I use instead.) It’s just up the road from my house.
So I wanted a picture of their barefoot sign, instead of some sign from Delaware. I went there with my camera, barefoot of course, and went in.
There was a greeter. (Note to stores: having a greeting like Wal-Mart does not impress or help anybody.)
I walked by, and realized that there was no barefoot sign. The barefoot sign I’d seen back when the store first opened was no longer there. There was other signs about being careful, but no barefoot sign.
However, as I went by the greeter, I heard her murmer “barefoot” to herself. Then later, as I was in the main aisle looking at LED light bulbs, she reluctantly came up to me. (Let me note that she was probably just a bit past high school, and not over-confident.)
Greeter: Um, I don’t think you can be barefoot in here.
Me (cheerfully): Oh? Why not?
Greeter: Uh, there might be sharp things on the floor. We’d be liable.
Me: No you wouldn’t. Now that you’ve warned me, that takes care of that.
And that was it. She walked away, happy, I’m sure, that she didn’t have to deal with any sort of confrontation.
It sure surprised me.
But it also means that, at least in this instance, I really couldn’t push the irony of misdirected safety. They got it right.
Oh, and by the way, their floors were spotless and super clean.
If you’d like to read more about how OSHA works, and my interaction with them many years ago, you might enjoy my blog entry: OSHA? Oh, Sure
Ahcuah 
Home Depot must be one of the places with the cleanest commercial floors I’ve ever been in. Probably because of the nature of what they sell. I don’t recall once seeing dangerous loose objects on the floor in one of their stores, and I’ve been in them MANY times.
I’ve had a few shops like that tell me they might have loose nails, but yet the people who throw me out are primarily supermarkets (especially Tesco, who tend to pick on anything they perceive as ‘odd’) and restaurants, who are mainly concerned with what is ‘proper’. There is also one furniture shop, because they sell glass. Bars don’t let me in at all, no matter what I say.
Here in the US, a barefoot friend of mine has very good luck going into biker bars. I’ve never had a problem when I’ve accompanied him. (In the US, “biker” == “motorcycle rider”.)
What are those greeters for? Here in Siberia people would not appreciate someone standing at a store’s door and doing exactly what? There are too many idlers as it is, like the numerous security guards.
Of course there are receptionists in banks etc, but why would you need a greater at a shop?
I’m not sure just what the greeters are supposed to be doing. Maybe it is so that entering customers can ask where something is located (the stores are huge, after all).
I have been to HD barefoot a dozen times, no flack at all and no sign at the door.
They did freak out about my empty propane tank being in the store (whoops)…
Good to see that tbeer’s local Depo at least has something approaching a sense of what’s safe, lol.
Funny that here in New Zealand our OSH rules do apply to customers as well and apparently do ban bare feet but no one anywhere enforces that rule. Maybe they realize they’d lose too many customers. Only pubs really seem barefoot-free because they post signs about acceptable dress standards at the door and they are more restrictive than just requiring shoes (although the pubs I go to don’t seem to enforce those rules either). The only person I’ve ever seen barefoot in a pub was a boy of about 10, in mid-winter too. Nobody told his family off for it. Family restaurants are fine with bare feet too, with the exception of Denny’s.
> Funny that here in New Zealand our OSH rules do apply to customers as well
newkiwi, how do you know?
Bob, you said that the shoes required sign was no longer posted, but there was other signs about being careful. Can you tell me exactly what those signs said?
The reason I’m asking this is because back in July, I sent a letter to Home Depot asking them to replace the shoes required sign with a sign that says “Proper Footwear Advised for Your Safety”, or something similar to that. In my letter I also pointed out many reasons why their shoes required policy is not well justified and asked them to repeal this policy. I am wondering if they have acted upon my letter!
I didn’t examine it closely, but I don’t think it said anything about footwear. It was like the signs at this link.