Whole Foods Market safety record at a glance
Whole Foods Market has been the subject of 31 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Jan 7, 2000 and Jan 28, 2026. 15 of them were accident inspections. 18 of them produced citations, 62 in all: 4 serious. Inspectors proposed $93,525 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $69,160. The largest single penalty, $19,950, came from an inspection opened Dec 18, 2001 in San Diego. That places the employer at #862 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties. The same employer has 1 WARN layoff notice on file with the EDD. It also appears in 1 federal wage and hour case.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Retail Trade; Transportation and Warehousing. Worksites in Sebastopol, Los Gatos, Del Mar, Burbank, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Los Altos, Redwood City.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28, 2026 | Sebastopol | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Mar 3, 2026 |
| Jul 16, 2025 | Los Gatos | Complaint | 5 citations | $4,025 | $3,550 | Mar 9, 2026 |
| Mar 19, 2024 | Del Mar | Accident | 1 citation | $1,125 | $1,125 | Sep 3, 2024 |
| Jul 26, 2023 | Burbank | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Dec 28, 2023 |
| Feb 4, 2022 | Del Mar | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Feb 24, 2022 |
| Oct 28, 2021 | San Francisco | Unprogrammed related | no citations | 0 | 0 | Mar 29, 2022 |
| Mar 11, 2019 | Santa Clara | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | May 24, 2019 |
| Jan 4, 2018 | Los Altos | Accident | 1 citation | $1,275 | $750 | May 23, 2018 |
| Jun 5, 2017 | Redwood City | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jun 9, 2017 |
| Jan 25, 2016 | Long Beach | Accident | 2 citations | $1,600 | $1,600 | Aug 7, 2017 |
| Apr 21, 2015 | Los Altos | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jun 9, 2015 |
| Dec 31, 2012 | Napa | Accident | 2 citations 1 serious | $11,750 | $5,700 | Sep 14, 2013 |
| Nov 8, 2011 | Santa Cruz | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Nov 18, 2011 |
| Oct 4, 2011 | Roseville | Complaint | 2 citations | $655 | $655 | May 3, 2012 |
| Jul 22, 2011 | Petaluma | Accident | 1 citation | $225 | $225 | Nov 5, 2011 |
| May 17, 2011 | Long Beach | Accident | 2 citations | $5,560 | $3,750 | Dec 22, 2012 |
| Feb 17, 2010 | Walnut Creek | Complaint | no citations | 0 | 0 | Apr 7, 2010 |
| Jan 26, 2009 | Tustin | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Jul 28, 2009 |
| Aug 17, 2007 | Glendale | Accident | no citations | 0 | 0 | Sep 4, 2007 |
| May 1, 2007 | Santa Moni | Complaint | 1 citation | 0 | 0 | Aug 31, 2007 |
| Feb 14, 2007 | Los Angeles | Accident | 3 citations 1 serious | $19,120 | $19,120 | Dec 17, 2008 |
| Apr 13, 2005 | San Rafael | Unprogrammed related | no citations | 0 | 0 | Apr 27, 2005 |
| Apr 12, 2005 | Vernon | Accident | 1 citation | $185 | 0 | Jul 11, 2008 |
| Mar 1, 2005 | Palo Alto | Complaint | no inspection made | 0 | 0 | May 10, 2005 |
| Oct 14, 2004 | San Francisco | Complaint | 4 citations | $930 | $930 | Apr 21, 2006 |
| Nov 21, 2003 | Cupertino | Complaint | 8 citations | $2,055 | $2,055 | Jan 13, 2004 |
| Dec 10, 2002 | San Rafael | Accident | 5 citations | $1,495 | $1,495 | Oct 20, 2004 |
| Dec 18, 2001 | San Diego | Accident | 15 citations 1 serious | $34,290 | $19,950 | May 7, 2008 |
| Jun 14, 2001 | Torrance | Complaint | 3 citations 1 serious | $7,310 | $7,310 | Nov 13, 2001 |
| Apr 14, 2000 | San Francisco | Accident | 1 citation | $300 | $300 | Nov 21, 2000 |
| Jan 7, 2000 | Glendale | Complaint | 5 citations | $1,625 | $645 | Aug 24, 2000 |
Also recorded as: Whole Foods Market - San Rafael; Whole Foods Market, Inc. dba Whole Foods Market; Whole Foods Market Inc; Whole Foods Market, Inc - Roseville; Whole Foods Market, Inc.; Whole Foods Market Inc.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 3203, Injury and Illness Prevention Program: 10 citations, 1 serious, $5,915
- 8 CCR 342, Reporting serious injuries and deaths: 4 citations, $6,900
- 8 CCR 3249: 4 citations, $1,010
- 8 CCR 2340.23: 3 citations, 1 serious, $7,190
- 8 CCR 6151, Portable fire extinguishers: 3 citations, $895
- 8 CCR 2340.16, Electrical work space: 3 citations, $520
- 8 CCR 3328, Machinery and equipment, general: 2 citations, 1 serious, $18,150
- 8 CCR 3396, Heat illness prevention, indoor: 2 citations, $1,870
Accidents investigated
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 Whole Foods Market
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.