Restaurants can be dangerous places to work in. Having worked in the catering industry as a student, dinner service can be a hectic and stressful time with servers and chefs rushing around to keep on top of orders and customers.
There are a number of potential health and safety hazards in general, so training and procedures are key in a restaurant to prevent people from being injured. So let’s take a look at some common examples where your employer may be liable to compensate you for your suffering and loss in the line of duty.
Colleagues bumping in to each other
People need to watch where they’re going – but in the height of dinner service, people can easily end up knocking in to each other. A common way to prevent this from happening is having designated in and out routes for kitchen and service areas. If there are no proper routes, or staff are not instructed and trained correctly about proper routes to use, there may be a claim if two people walk in to each other and an accident occurs.
It’s the same with doors swinging open as well.
If there are proper procedures and routes but a colleague uses the wrong route and causes an injury to you, the restaurant can still be vicariously liable for the accident. This means that the negligence of a colleague often leaves the employer at fault for a claim. If a colleague is at fault, your employer is probably liable to compensate you.
Slips and trips
These are very common – especially in kitchen areas. The restaurant should have a system of regular inspection and maintenance to ensure spillages are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Signs should be deployed as well – especially when an area is being cleaned.
There are specific workplace regulations that state that no floor or traffic route shall be uneven, slippery, or have articles on it that could cause a tripping hazard. So there shouldn’t be food or boxes of food stored on floors either.
As always, if a colleague ignores procedure and causes an accident, perhaps by failing to deploy a wet floor sign when cleaning, the employer is normally going to be liable for a claim.
Burns from heat and chemicals
If no proper training is provided, or if gloves aren’t provided for handling hot food, trays, or other items or chemicals, you could have a claim. Again, there are specific regulations for employers to provide protective equipment where necessary and proper training and supervision to ensure staff are not injured.
Restaurant work accident claims – 100% compensation
If you have been injured in a restaurant work accident, always get in touch to see if you could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation. We can offer 100% compensation agreements for work accident claims, and it’s a full No Win, No Fee service so you have nothing to lose by getting in touch for advice!