From tubs of hot cooking oil to flaming grills and searing griddles, working in any kitchen presents a multitude of burn hazards, and sometimes accidents happen. But some McDonald’s workers say their restaurants are cooking too much food with too few people and that when employees get hurt, management has some odd ideas for how to respond.
Fight for 15, a union-supported group of fast food workers calling for higher wages, announced today that McDonald’s employees in 19 cities around the country have filed a total of 28 health and safety complaints with state, local, and federal authorities.
Not only do the workers say that they are being put in unsafe conditions — like being told to clean out the deep fryer while the oil is still hot — but that their restaurants lack first aid equipment.
One Chicago McD’s employee says he slipped on a wet floor while working and burned his arm.
“The managers told me to put mustard on it,” he claims in a statement, “but I ended up having to get rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.”
Another employee says that at her restaurant in Philadelphia they lack the proper equipment for disposing of fry oil and so they “just dump the hot grease into a plastic bag in a box of ice.”
“My co-worker got badly burned, and our manager told him ‘put mayonnaise on it, you’ll be good,” says the employee. “McDonald’s needs to be held accountable, and that’s why workers around the country are joining together.”
In a statement to the Chicago Tribune McDonald’s said the company “will review these allegations,” which McDonald’s maintains are “part of a larger strategy orchestrated by activists targeting our brand and designed to generate media coverage.”
Meanwhile, a rep for OSHA confirmed to the Trib that it is looking into complaints about McDonald’s that it investigates “all complaints and take every complaint seriously.”
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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