Four out of every five fast food workers has been burned at work, often badly, and often more than once. At McDonald’s, there is no worker’s comp and no consistent first aid practices; in fact, nearly 33% of burned employees were told to treat their burns with condiments.

HUH??

According to a recent study released by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, 79% of fast-food workers in the U.S. have been burned in the past year. These burns are often entirely preventable, caused by issues like understaffing, inadequate safety gear, and poor training.

McDonald’s workers in 19 cities have now filed health and safety complaints, revealing serious failures by the fast-food giant to provide even basic safety measures for its workers.¹ Some of the most egregious statistics include:

• 4 in 5 fast-food workers have been burned on the job, with 3/4 of burned workers suffering multiple burns
• More than 1/3 of workers say their store’s safety kit is missing, incomplete, or inaccessible
• 46% of workers cite under-staffing and pressure to work too fast as the cause of their burns; 1 in 5 cite missing or damaged safety gear
• Over 1/3 of burned workers were told to treat their burns with condiments like mustard and mayonnaise

Overall, nearly half of all fast-food workers reported totally inappropriate treatment for burns.²

WHY?

Over and over, a common theme comes up in these workers’ complaints: McDonald’s prioritizes profit over its workers. One worker reported having to dump boiling grease into trash-bag lined buckets, without gloves of any kind - while the machine designated for grease disposal sat broken for 6 months.³ And while McDonald’s corporate offices conduct regular, thorough inspections of franchisees’ business operations, they pay little attention to health and safety practices in those same franchises.

McDonald’s is the third-largest employer in the entire U.S. Their safety practices - or lack thereof - affect millions of employees and their families. There is no excuse for McDonald’s to skip basic safety measures for its employees. After all, CEOs can come and go -- if no one’s at the grill, no one’s making money.

WHAT?

There are three steps that McDonald’s could easily take to ensure basic levels of worker safety: Equip every McDonald’s store with first aid supplies to treat burns and other serious injuries suffered by workers on the job; supply every McDonald’s store with proper safety gear to clean hot equipment like fryers and grills safely; and provide paid time-off and medical treatment for workers who are injured on the job. These are simple, affordable measures for a multi-billion dollar corporation - a couple of them also happen to be the law.⁴

If McDonald’s is going to continue paying poverty wages, the least they can do is put in some effort to keep their workers safe.

Sources:

1. USA Today, “McDonald’s Workers File 28 Burn Complaints.” http://usat.ly/1GV15A3
2. Hart Research Associates, “Key Findings from a Survey on Fast Food Worker Safety.” http://bit.ly/1GVGit3 (PDF)
3. Fight for 15, “Burned at McDonald’s. Treated with Mustard.” http://fightfor15.org/burns/ (video)
4. Food Service Warehouse, “Restaurant Employment and Labor Laws.” http://bit.ly/1BMAw8n