Oregon’s workplace safety agency is examining a federal settlement that calls for Dollar Tree to fix persistent unsafe conditions at thousands of stores nationwide — but the agreement won’t apply in Oregon.

The settlement comes after the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified more than 400 violations, including blocked exits, unsafe storage of merchandise, inaccessible fire extinguishers and electrical panels and other hazards since 2017.

The agreement, which covers all Dollar Tree and subsidiary Family Dollar stores under federal OSHA’s jurisdiction, would require the chains to find the “root causes” of those violations and fix them within two years. It also calls for the companies to form safety advisory groups, develop new worker safety training, maintain a 24-hour hotline for safety complaints and anti-retaliation protections for workers.

The ruling, however, does not apply to the dollar chains’ stores in Oregon, which is one of 21 states with its own workplace safety agency rather than relying on federal regulations and enforcement.

Kristin Tetreault, Dollar Tree chief communications officer, said that the two dollar chains “are implementing the safety policies, procedures and training across all of our stores,” regardless of location.

Aaron Corvin, a spokesperson for the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, known as Oregon OSHA, said the agency was aware of the settlement and was examining its federal counterpart’s findings.

The state agency, Corvin said, is “committed to holding Dollar Tree accountable for addressing and correcting the hazards we cited.”

Since 2017, Oregon OSHA has issued more than 80 violations at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores across the state, resulting in more than $136,000 in initial penalties to date, according to enforcement data provided by the agency.

Dollar Tree Inc. operates over 100 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar locations in more than 70 cities across Oregon.

The Oregon citations included allegations of boxes stacked dangerously high and blocking exits, slipping and tripping hazards, and boxes blocking fire extinguishers, the data shows.

In July, Oregon OSHA fined a Dollar Tree store in Forest Grove $37,500 for “willfully exposing employees to potential serious injury” due to the way merchandise in the store was stacked.

According to the enforcement data, the agency cited the stack as a serious violation during an initial inspection visit. Management at the store submitted documentation to show how the issue was addressed, but Oregon OSHA considered the documentation insufficient and later received an anonymous complaint saying the issue had not been fully addressed.

During a follow-up inspection, OSHA inspectors learned an employee had been trapped when a stack of boxes collapsed, according to the inspectors’ report.

In recent years, discount chains, like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, have taken on an increasingly larger role in the food retail landscape. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health this January, which surveyed 50,000 households on their food purchasing practices, found that dollar stores were the “fastest growing retail channel” for food purchases.

Last year, Dollar Tree opened 464 new stores, relocated 120 stores and closed 205 stores, according to the company’s annual report.

During its earnings call for the second quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, Dollar Tree Inc. reported a 8.2% net sales increase year over year to $7.3 billion. It also saw customer traffic growth of 9.6% in its Dollar Tree segment and 3.4% in its Family Dollar brand.

But net income fell 44.3% to $200.4 million, which company officials attributed to unfavorable shrink trends, rising utilities and labor costs.