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Fast-Food Chains Tell Workers to Treat Burns With Mustard, Ketchup, and Mayo
On my very first shift after being promoted to line cook from busboy at a busy Texas steakhouse back in the '80s, I watched a wizened colleague deftly transfer a catfish filet straight from a fryer basket to a plate using only his bare fingers. Bristling with teenage zeal, I attempted the same trickearning a surge of pain and five raised welts (one for each finger tip) that troubled me for weeks. I learned several important lessonsabout technique, calluses, and the wonders of tongsand never suffered another serious burn in my near-decadelong career as a cook.
Kitchens seethe with danger: sharp (or, worse, dull) knives; fire; hot pans full of gurgling liquids; vats of boiling grease. Injuries are inevitable. In a properly trained and staffed outfit, however, they should be minimal. But as the above video shows, that's not always the case. Made by the union-led Fight for $15 campaign, which aims to improve wages and conditions for fast-food workers, it depicts truly nasty conditions prevailing behind the scenes at a McDonald's outlet.
And McDonald's isn't the only chain with worker safety issues. A new poll of 1,426 adult fast-food workers1,091 of whom work in the kitchen "at least some of the time"suggests that things are out of control in the nation's fast-food kitchens.
Note that those numbers reflect the injury experiences of all the workers polled, even those who don't work on the kitchen side of the operation. Among the approximately 1,100 kitchen workers polled, 75 percent reported having been burned multiple times over the past year. Among nonkitchen workers, 61 percent reported a burn in the past year, most often from handling hot liquids, the report notes. That 12 percent of respondents said they've been assaulted over the previous year suggests that security, too, is an issue in fast food outlets.
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/03/little-mustard-grease-burn
Don't we have workplace safety laws?
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Fast-Food Chains Tell Workers to Treat Burns With Mustard, Ketchup, and Mayo (Original Post)
undeterred
Mar 2015
OP
conditions were like that in the 70's when I became manager in 1 week at a fast food burger joint
uppityperson
Mar 2015
#1
uppityperson
(115,678 posts)1. conditions were like that in the 70's when I became manager in 1 week at a fast food burger joint
After showing up on time for 5 days, they wanted me to be manager but I quit instead. In that week I saw way too much of this sort of crap. I finally found out that the person I replaced had slipped and fallen both hands into the deep fat fryer.
It is appalling this is still going on. Too many people do not know how to report this, or are unable to report due to getting fired if they do. It is appalling.
Blue Owl
(50,485 posts)2. A little relish adds some extra zest
grasswire
(50,130 posts)3. I can say from personal experience......
...that mustard is indeed a good first aid treatment for a burn. Since reading about it a couple of years ago, I use it and find it excellent at pain relief. The turmeric, I guess.
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)4. This needs a call to O.S.H.A. The first aid kit alone is a fine of a couple-a thousand $.