Unsafe Working Conditions
Conduct Screen Labor Rights
Dangerous or degrading workplace conditions — documented patterns of preventable injuries, deaths, or illness caused by inadequate safety measures, excessive hours, or disregard for worker health. Includes heat exposure deaths, chemical exposure, repetitive stress injuries at scale, and supply chain factory conditions. Same escalating threshold as other conduct codes: one incident is alarming, two is very concerning, three or more independent incidents with the same fact pattern is dispositive. Recency matters — companies that have genuinely reformed safety practices should be reassessed. Distinct from preventable_deaths (capital-structure-driven care deterioration) and worker_exploitation (compensation theft).
27 companies currently excluded under this screen
Excluded Companies (27 total)
Showing 25 of 27 companies excluded under this screen.
| Ticker | Company | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| NSC | Norfolk Southern Corporation | Norfolk Southern Corporation accumulates 1,967 railroad safety violations on Good Jobs First's Violation Tracker since 2000, carrying $18.7 million in safety-related penalties — a volume that reflects not episodic lapses but persistent institutional tolerance for hazard. The February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio derailment, where a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals jumped the tracks and forced the evacuation of roughly 2,000 residents, became the most visible expression of that pattern: federal investigators attributed the wreck to an overheated wheel bearing that onboard sensors detected but that crews were not prompted to act on in time. The National Transportation Safety Board's subsequent investigation identified systemic deficiencies in wayside detection protocols and crew alerting procedures — failures the company had the technical capacity to address and chose not to prioritize. The hazard record extends to workers long before East Palestine. A 1993 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health evaluation found that Norfolk Southern track maintenance workers were being overexposed to crystalline silica, with 27 of 50 personal breathing zone samples meeting or exceeding the NIOSH recommended limit for respirable quartz. OSHA found, across multiple concurrent investigations completed between 2011 and 2012, that Norfolk Southern had illegally retaliated against employees under the Federal Railroad Safety Act in at least six separate cases, all involving workers who either reported a workplace injury or refused to work under unsafe conditions. In a June 2012 enforcement action covering three cases alone, OSHA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay $802,168 including $525,000 in punitive damages. By late 2012, OSHA's cumulative penalty orders against Norfolk Southern for whistleblower retaliation had reached approximately $2.7 million across 14 months. Norfolk Southern's own 2025 Safety Report describes ongoing Mechanical War Room initiatives and a 31.1 percent reduction in wayside stops — improvements framed as operational achievements rather than acknowledgments of past failure. No public accounting of the company's silica exposure legacy, the scope of retaliatory terminations, or the structural decisions that preceded the East Palestine derailment appears in that document. |
| CSX | CSX | ViolationTracker records 2,065 safety-related offense records against CSX since 2000, carrying a combined penalty total of $23,081,849. Of those, 2,054 are categorized specifically as railroad safety violations, accounting for $22,791,250 in penalties — the largest single offense type by record count in CSX's enforcement history. The railroad safety violation record count of 2,054 represents the overwhelming majority of CSX's 2,137 total enforcement records across all offense categories, indicating that workplace and operational safety failures are not episodic but constitute a structural and persistent pattern across the company's operations. The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA issued an enforcement action against CSX in August 2014, adding to the administrative record of federal safety enforcement against the company. The Federal Railroad Administration has also engaged CSX through confidential close-call reporting systems aimed at human performance failures on the railroad — a program whose existence at this scale reflects sustained concern among federal regulators about safety culture and near-miss rates in CSX's operating environment. No evidence in the available record indicates that CSX has adopted remedial safety programs, entered into a corporate-wide compliance agreement, or otherwise demonstrated a structural departure from the conduct pattern reflected in the 2,054 railroad safety violation records. The penalty record spans more than two decades, with no documented break in the frequency of enforcement actions. |
| UNP | Union Pacific Corporation | Union Pacific Corporation has been designated a "serial violator" of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) by OSHA. The company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints since 2001, establishing a documented pattern of retaliating against employees who report safety violations, refuse to work in dangerous conditions, or seek medical care for workplace injuries. In March 2026, OSHA found Union Pacific wrongly terminated an employee for reporting and seeking medical treatment for a work-related injury, ordering reinstatement and over $300,000 in back wages and damages. In August 2025, OSHA issued a similar finding and reinstatement order with over $300,000 in penalties. OSHA has found Union Pacific violated the FRSA at its North Platte yard at least three times since 2011 for disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries. A ProPublica investigation documented that dead workers and severed limbs were missing from railroad safety data industry-wide, with Class 1 railroads collectively fined only $30,011 in 2022 despite $108 billion in combined revenue. Union Pacific's systemic retaliation against injured workers suppresses injury reporting and creates conditions where preventable harm goes unaddressed. |
| GIL | Gildan Activewear Inc | Gildan Activewear operates large-scale apparel manufacturing facilities in Honduras, where it has faced multiple, independent labor rights investigations over more than a decade. In 2009, the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) documented systematic violations at Gildan’s Rio Nance facility, including the illegal dismissal of workers attempting to organize a union. A subsequent 2014 WRC investigation found that Gildan’s subsidiary, Gildan de Honduras, had again interfered with union organizing at its Villanueva facility, leading to the dismissal of union supporters. In 2021, the WRC issued a third report detailing ongoing anti-union conduct at Gildan’s San Miguel facility, where management conducted unlawful surveillance of workers and threatened union members with dismissal. This pattern of repeated, substantiated violations across different factories and years, as documented by the same independent monitor, indicates a systemic failure to uphold basic worker rights to freedom of association. The company’s operations in Honduras have been a persistent focus of international labor rights campaigns, with no public evidence of a reformed, company-wide policy to prevent such violations. |
| IDEXY | Industria de Diseno Textil | Inditex, the parent company of brands including Zara, operates a global supply chain of thousands of factories. Multiple independent investigations over more than a decade have documented a pattern of dangerous working conditions in these facilities. A 2023 report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre linked the company to factories in Myanmar where workers faced excessive heat, inadequate ventilation, and forced overtime. In 2021, the Clean Clothes Campaign documented similar conditions in Turkish factories supplying Inditex, including blocked fire exits and structural safety risks. This pattern extends to wage-related exploitation that compounds unsafe conditions. The same 2023 BHRRC report noted that workers in Myanmar factories producing for Inditex brands were paid below the legal minimum wage, trapping them in poverty and making them unable to refuse unsafe overtime. While Inditex has public commitments to its Code of Conduct for manufacturers, these recurring, geographically dispersed incidents indicate systemic enforcement failures in its supply chain oversight. |
| CVE | Cenovus Energy Inc. | ViolationTracker documents 39 safety-related offense records for Cenovus Energy and its subsidiaries, spanning OSHA workplace safety, PHMSA pipeline safety, and FRA railroad safety violations. In April 2018, a catastrophic explosion and fire at the Superior Refining Company (acquired by Cenovus via Husky Energy) in Superior, Wisconsin forced the evacuation of the surrounding community. OSHA cited the refinery for eight serious violations of safety management procedures totaling $83,150 in fines, finding that operators were following rewritten shutdown procedures — distributed the morning of the explosion — without adequate training, and that the company failed to inspect and test equipment for fitness. Documents later revealed the refinery knew about equipment issues, including a leaking valve, years before the incident. The predecessor operator Calumet had been fined $16,800 in 2015 for violations involving flammable liquids and hazardous waste. |
| DHI | D R HORTON INC | ViolationTracker documents $3,881,426 in regulatory penalties against D.R. Horton across 99 records since 2000, with workplace safety or health violations accounting for the largest share: 75 of those 99 records, totaling $2,034,879. The pattern spans multiple sites and enforcement actions, indicating a systemic rather than isolated compliance failure. OSHA records confirm a 2016 citation for fall protection training deficiencies at a D.R. Horton worksite, with an initial penalty of $68,591 — later settled to $12,471 — covering employees exposed to inadequate fall protection systems. The citation was classified as a repeat violation under 29 CFR 1926.503(c)(3), meaning OSHA had previously cited the company for the same or substantially similar conduct. |
| ITW | ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC | ViolationTracker documents 76 penalty records against Illinois Tool Works totaling over $6.1 million. OSHA has cited the company for 49 workplace safety violations totaling $628,000 across its manufacturing operations. The Hobart Service subsidiary settled a $4.2 million wage theft class action in 2018. On the environmental side, ITW has accumulated 13 environmental violations and 6 air pollution violations, including a $345,000 EPA penalty in 2021. The Bureau of Industry and Security has also cited ITW for export control violations. The breadth across safety, wage, environmental, and export enforcement — spanning multiple subsidiaries and multiple agencies — reflects a company-wide governance deficit in operational compliance. |
| SNA | SNAP-ON INC | Snap-on manufacturing facilities have accumulated $495,400 in OSHA penalties across 14 enforcement records since 2000 (ViolationTracker). Pattern includes at least two amputation injuries: a 2005 hydraulic press brake incident at the Algona, Iowa facility (Inspection #308261262, 6 citations including 3 serious) and a 2017 machine setup incident at the Milwaukee, WI facility (Inspection #1243968.015, 4 serious citations). Both incidents involved employees losing fingers due to inadequate machine guarding and lockout/tagout procedures. The recurrence of amputation injuries over a 12-year span at different facilities indicates a systemic failure to implement adequate machine safety controls. |
| 2792 | Honeys Holdings Co Ltd | Honeys Holdings Co Ltd, through its subsidiary Honeys Garment Industry Limited (HGIL), operates garment factories in Myanmar where systematic labor rights violations have been documented. In 2023, 20 civil society organizations publicly urged the company to apologize and reinstate workers who were allegedly retaliated against for speaking out about labor conditions. The allegations point to a pattern of suppressing worker organizing and failing to address abuses in its supply chain factories. This follows earlier reports linking the company to human rights concerns in its Myanmar operations, indicating ongoing issues with workplace conditions and freedom of association. |
| 1326 | Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp | Excluded by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global in 2020 for unacceptable risk of human rights violations. NBIM Council of Ethics documented illegal use of overtime, discrimination, and occupational safety violations at Formosa Taffeta, a subsidiary operating in Vietnam. Parent company Formosa Plastics Group is a documented serial environmental offender: the 2016 Ha Tinh steel plant disaster discharged toxic waste off the Vietnamese coast, killing millions of fish and devastating coastal fishing communities. Formosa pledged $500M in compensation to the Vietnamese government but has not adequately compensated individual victims. |
| CP | CANADIAN PACIFIC KANSAS CITY LTD | CPKC has documented history of prioritizing operational throughput over mandated safety rest periods. In June 2023, Federal Court found railway guilty of contempt for 22 instances of intentionally overworking train crews beyond 10-12 hour limits. Though Federal Court of Appeal acquitted in Aug 2024 on criminal contempt (did not dispute violations occurred). Teamsters documented "thousands of situations continue annually" where crews not relieved on time. In Feb 2026 (FCA 42), court dismissed CPKC's attempt to overturn constructive dismissal ruling for worker falsely classified as "manager" to avoid Canada Labour Code protections. |
| ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Company | ADM has accumulated $51.9M in fines for 90 federal/state violations over the past decade per Violation Tracker. Safety record at Decatur, IL is severe: employee Robert Dautel killed in Apr 2023 locomotive crush ($15,625 OSHA fine); explosion in Apr 2023 at West Plant injured 3 workers — OSHA found explosion suppression systems uninspected since 2016 and proposed $324,796 in penalties including willful violations; Sep 2023 East Plant explosion injured 8 workers, four serious violations totaling $50,000+. Nine deaths and 22 injuries across ADM plants in 15 years with 140 total OSHA violations. |
| 105630 | Hansae Co Ltd | Hansae Co Ltd operates apparel manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, China, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Saipan. A 2016 factory assessment by the Worker Rights Consortium identified hazardous working conditions at its Vietnamese facility, specifically citing exposure to chemicals and poor ventilation. The assessment concluded the company needed to establish an effective corporate-wide occupational health and safety program run by professionals. This documented pattern of inadequate safety measures in its supply chain meets the threshold for exclusion under working conditions. |
| AAPL | Apple | A September 2025 China Labor Watch investigation found workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone 17 facility were subjected to 60–75 hour weeks, dispatch labor usage at five times the legal cap, and inadequate PPE for chemical exposure. Domestically, a November 2025 lawsuit (Fornes v. Apple) alleges systemic failure to accommodate mental health conditions, describing a burnout culture where managers reportedly ignored documented panic attacks tied to excessive workloads. |
| CSGP | COSTAR GROUP INC | Investigative reporting (Business Insider, The Real Deal) and verified employee accounts describe a "culture of fear" and "surveillance-driven" management. In 2024-2025, intrusive oversight practices included unannounced video calls to remote workers and a 37% turnover rate in a single year, far exceeding industry norms. Indicates systemic corporate negligence regarding employee mental health and psychological safety. |
| PHM | PULTEGROUP INC | PulteGroup has accumulated 30 regulatory violations for workplace safety or health offenses since 2000, resulting in $545,106 in penalties according to Violation Tracker (Good Jobs First). The 83 total regulatory records span safety, environmental, consumer protection, and wage violations, with safety-related offenses representing a persistent pattern across the company's construction operations. |
| 1434 | Formosa Taffeta Co Ltd | NBIM's council on ethics notes "Investigations into working conditions at Formosa Taffeta’s factory in Vietnam identified numerous labour rights violations such as the illegal and involuntary use of overtime, underpayment of employees, discrimination, and violations of occupational health and safety requirements." |
| TSLA | Tesla | As of 2025, the AFL-CIO found 27 open cases with workplace safety violations. They note: "In many cases, Tesla refuses to pay small fines and prolongs the process by contesting the citations. In most cases, the hazards do not have to be fixed while the citation is under contest, leaving workers in danger." |
| DG | Dollar General Corporation | Dollar General has been repeatedly cited by OSHA for egregious workplace safety violations, including blocked fire exits, unstable stacking, and hazardous store conditions. The company has faced millions in OSHA penalties across hundreds of inspections for systematically unsafe working conditions. |
| UBER | UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC | Uber Technologies operates a global ride-hailing and delivery platform. The company's gig labor model has been found by courts in multiple jurisdictions to misclassify drivers as independent contractors, denying them minimum wage, overtime, and workplace protections. |
| DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | OSHA records indicate a pattern of "Repeat" violations related to Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures. A 2022 Final Order detailed a serious burn hazard where employees were exposed to trapped steam in a clogged vessel — a violation cited multiple times previously. |
| ARI | African Rainbow Minerals | African Rainbow Minerals participated in the historic R5-billion silicosis class action settlement in South Africa, compensating gold mineworkers who developed fatal occupational lung disease from unsafe mining conditions. |
| BWA | BorgWarner | BorgWarner's Teamsters-represented workers went on strike citing unsafe working conditions at its facility. Workers reported safety failures and contract violations serious enough to warrant a picket line. |
| HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Hormel received three Serious OSHA citations in September 2025 for lockout/tagout and machine guarding failures at a production facility — violations that expose workers to amputation and crushing hazards. |
+ 2 more companies excluded under this screen
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A digest of changes to our exclusion list — new additions, removals, and the evidence behind them. We review the list continuously as new evidence surfaces.
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