Occupational Burns Among Restaurant Workers – Colorado and Minnesota

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Carl, W. ; Cook, M. ; Heinzman, Michelle ; Hoffman, Richard E. ; McKenzie, Lyle E. ; Parker, D. ; Thoreson, S.
• Description:
  Investigations of restaurant associated occupational burns by the state health departments in Colorado and Minnesota were summarized. A case report from Colorado involved an employee who had followed the standard procedure for cleaning exhaust filters located about 5 feet above a deep fryer. She had placed a wooden cover over three of four bin containing hot grease, but no cover was available for the fourth bin. While standing on a chair she had placed on the wooden cover to reach and remove the filters, she fell, sustaining second and third degree burns over 10% of her body from the hot grease. In reviewing burns for 29 patients, the proportion of body surface burned ranged from 1.5 to 30%. Total costs for medical payments, lost wages, and compensation settlements for 24 of the 29 persons ranged from 1,690 to 100,445 dollars (mean 17,426). In Minnesota, a 17 year old waitress in a delicatessen who slipped on a wet floor. As she fell, she stepped into a bucket of hot grease that had been placed on the floor while the grease in a deep fryer was being replaced. A second case concerned a work related burn sustained by a 16 year old crew cook in a fast food restaurant who was pushing a container of hot grease to the outside for filtration. As he reached to open the door, the container slipped, the lid came off, and hot grease spilled over much of his body. In Minnesota, there were 71 work related burn injuries reported in 1 year; hot grease accounted for 50% of burn injuries in fast food restaurants and 42% of burns in full service restaurants. An editorial note discussed work related burns in restaurant workers, and burn injuries among adolescent workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Burns Epidemiology Food Handling Food Industry Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Age-groups Chemical-burns Cooking-equipment Food-services NIOSH-Author Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Risk-factors
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  37
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00235889
• Citation:
  MMWR 1993 Sep; 42(37):713-716
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5a6d6781fa8af40896d622e96012155eef36478c27d66815872a3dc31dd48a9424380f280517c02743d9498bdd7ed71a9da3efc07d6b5bbe4ad3608b7f410fc9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183217/cdc_183217_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 34.60 KB ]