Injured Young Worker Hazard Alert: Food Service Worker Has Eye Surgery After Bottle Shatters in Her Face

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 22-year-old drink cart coordinator nearly lost her vision after a piece of glass ruptured her right eye. The worker was kneeling to load an airplane drink cart. A wine bottle resting on a box 4-5 feet off the floor fell, shattering, with pieces of glass becoming lodged in her eye. The worker was initially seen at an urgent care center but needed to go to the emergency room for surgery. Her injuries kept her off work for over a month. She only left home to go to her eye appointments. At the time of her injury, she was not wearing eye protection because it was not provided as part of her job. The victim reported that the company now provides and requires workers to wear eye protection while loading carts and working with chemicals. Employer Requirements: The employer must look for and identify hazards or potential hazards in the workplace and determine if Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is necessary on the job. See WAC 296-800-16005. The employer must document that a hazard assessment for PPE has been done and complete a written certification. See WAC 296-800-16010. The employer must provide PPE at no cost to employees if the PPE would not reasonably or normally be worn away from workplace. See WAC 296-800-16020. Employers must make sure your employees use appropriate eye and face protection. See WAC 296-800-16050. Recommendations: Ensure you have been trained to recognize and correct hazards associated with your job. If no one has discussed hazards with you, ask for training. Inspect your working area before completing a task and address any hazard before beginning task. In this case ensure that all loose wine bottles and/or other breakables are stored in a box and not resting on a shelf or an unstable surface. Design storage rooms to prevent loose bottles from being left on unstable surfaces. Provide railings that would not allow individual bottles to fall or design a container rack that stores individual bottles instead of using shelves to store boxes filled with bottles. When possible use drink options that are made from non-glass materials. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Eye Food Handling Food Industry Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs Sense Organs / Injuries Staff Development

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Eye Injuries Eye Protection Food Services Hazard Recognition Injuries Personal Protective Equipment PPE Training Young Workers
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060767
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 91-09-2011, 2011 Dec; :1
• Email:
  Eric.Jolonen@Lni.wa.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Injured young worker hazard alert: food service worker has eye surgery after bottle shatters in her face
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:39831f6fca2b6e9e088862c4e90e90f7bf699098ea22800b557078e42aae70d1cb3f4d30d81abea43ae10d884d71aa81cba2173f0fd1fccc5f740564528b2b78
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224589/cdc_224589_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 96.01 KB ]