Auto Zone safety record at a glance
Auto Zone has been the subject of 18 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Oct 19, 2000 and Dec 7, 2023. 10 of them were complaint inspections. 10 of them produced citations, 25 in all: 2 serious. Inspectors proposed $45,845 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $30,515. The largest single penalty, $23,000, came from an inspection opened Jul 12, 2011 in Ontario. That places the employer at #3,442 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Retail Trade; Transportation and Warehousing; Wholesale Trade. Worksites in Ontario, Phelan, San Francisco, Turlock, Tustin, Sacramento, Vallejo, El Monte.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 2023 | Ontario | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 6, 2024 |
| Oct 18, 2019 | Phelan | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Dec 19, 2019 |
| Oct 16, 2019 | Ontario | Accident | 1 citation | $5,000 | $3,000 | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Dec 2, 2015 | San Francisco | Accident | 2 citations | $840 | $840 | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Nov 30, 2015 | Turlock | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 22, 2016 |
| Jul 17, 2013 | Tustin | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Aug 28, 2013 |
| Sep 5, 2012 | Sacramento | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jan 18, 2013 |
| Jan 19, 2012 | Vallejo | Complaint | 3 citations | 0 | 0 | Aug 24, 2012 |
| Jul 12, 2011 | Ontario | Accident | 2 citations 1 serious | $23,000 | $23,000 | Jun 10, 2012 |
| Jan 2, 2007 | Sacramento | Complaint | 1 citation | $280 | $280 | Apr 19, 2007 |
| Apr 13, 2006 | El Monte | Complaint | 4 citations | $740 | $185 | Jul 20, 2006 |
| Feb 8, 2005 | Los Angeles | Complaint | 6 citations | $6,180 | $600 | Jul 5, 2006 |
| Jan 22, 2004 | Lemon Grove | Complaint | 1 citation | $930 | $930 | May 1, 2008 |
| Sep 24, 2003 | North Highlands | Accident | 2 citations 1 serious | $1,470 | $840 | Jun 26, 2006 |
| Jul 17, 2003 | Long Beach | Complaint | 3 citations | $7,405 | $840 | Dec 31, 2003 |
| Oct 25, 2002 | Lamont | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Oct 25, 2002 |
| Jan 11, 2002 | Delano | Referral | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jan 31, 2002 |
| Oct 19, 2000 | Ontario | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 16, 2001 |
Also recorded as: Auto Zone, Inc.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 6151, Portable fire extinguishers: 8 citations, $1,270
- 8 CCR 3272: 3 citations, $1,305
- 8 CCR 342, Reporting serious injuries and deaths: 2 citations, $8,000
- 8 CCR 2340.16, Electrical work space: 2 citations, $185
- 8 CCR 3212, Floor openings and wall openings: 1 citation, 1 serious, $18,000
- 8 CCR 5162, Emergency eyewash and shower: 1 citation, $420
- 8 CCR 3382: 1 citation, 1 serious, $420
- 8 CCR 3225: 1 citation, $280
Accidents investigated
Local pages: Ontario employment lawyer, San Francisco employment lawyer.
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at Auto Zone
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.