Are Fast Food Burn Injuries Preventable?

At IDP, in the past, we viewed the burn injuries as part and parcel of the workers’ compensation landscape for fast food restaurants. According to research sponsored by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health 79% of fast food workers reported being burned in the last 12 months. So, although burns should be prevented by teaching appropriate techniques for working with hot instruments and having available burn prevention tools like gloves, it is inevitable that someone will burn themselves during the average most fast food restaurants are open a year.

Though this is true, we have recently begun to use burn injuries as an overall indicator of the workers’ safety culture at each location. Burn injury causes are normally stemming from workers moving too fast. As such, many burn injuries are caused because there is a tension between executing tasks safely and quickly. If you are seeing an uptick in burn injuries take this as an opportunity to review and see how you reinforce and encourage a safe work environment. Although most burn claims are low in severity and cost, a declining safety culture will eventually lead to a severe claim and have consequences on your bottom line for the next three years.