WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - Discount store operator

Dollar General ( DG ) has agreed to pay $12 million in penalty

for alleged safety violations that led to blocked exits and fire

extinguishers and unsafe storage, requiring the company to

improve workplace safety in stores across the U.S. in a

settlement with the federal Labor Department, the government

said in a statement on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Dollar General ( DG ), which has over 19,000 stores in the United

States, was designated by the U.S. Labor Department's

Occupational Safety and Health Administration as a "severe

violator" of federal law.

The department has previously alleged that the retailer

endangered worker safety by exposing them to unsafe conditions

and the company failed several government safety inspections.

CONTEXT

The Labor Department said that as part of the settlement,

the company will hire additional safety managers, expand its

safety and health management system, provide concerned training

to employees and managers and develop a safety and health

committee.

The settlement also requires the company to significantly

reduce inventory and increase stocking efficiency to prevent

blocked exits and unsafe material storage.

Dollar General ( DG ) had no immediate comment on Thursday.

Failure to correct any identified future hazards within 48

hours may require the retailer to pay $100,000 per day of

violation, up to $500,000, as well as inspection from the Labor

Department, the department said. The department also said the

company will provide it with quarterly reports.

KEY QUOTE

"These changes help give peace of mind to thousands of

workers, knowing that they are not risking their safety in their

workplaces and that they will come home healthy at the end of

each day," Douglas Parker, Assistant Secretary of Labor for

Occupational Safety and Health, said on Thursday.