Being a chef might not sound like a particularly hazardous line of work, apart from the occasional burn or cut. But when negligence is involved, it is easy for chefs, cooks and other kitchen workers to suffer serious injuries or even death. Here are some examples of workplace accidents leading to catastrophic injury and wrongful death in the kitchen:
- In February, a 45-year-old woman working in a Salt Lake City supermarket died after being pulled into an industrial mixer. A coworker heard it happen and shut off the machine, but it was too late.
- In March, a 27-year-old chef in Charlottesville, Virginia was operating a meat grinder. Her sleeve was pulled into the machine. She was taken to the hospital, and lost her hand.
- A Lexington, Kentucky man carrying a 20-gallon pot of boiling peanut chicken stew suffered a slip-and-fall accident. The stew spilled all over him and gave him second degree burns over 50 percent of his body. He recovered fully and has returned to work since.
- In 2012, a Nashville chef became trapped in his restaurant’s walk-in refrigerator. He did not have his cell phone, the emergency release on the door was broken, and the refrigerator had been filled with dry ice due to a power outage. The fumes from the dry ice suffocated him within minutes.
- In 2016, three workers at a Texas Church’s Chicken restaurant were severely burned when the floor opened up beneath them, sending the three into a pit along with a vat of hot grease. The three workers were hospitalized with severe burns, requiring skin grafts and lengthy surgeries.
Ephesians 4:2, “Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another.”