Answers to common questions about the
teen-worker restaurant safety program

Most injuries to Washington teenagers occur in the restaurant industry, which in Washington employs up to 50 percent of teenage workers. Many teenagers are needlessly injured on the job. Labor & Industries (L&I) and the Washington Restaurant Association (WRA) are collaborating to prevent teen injuries in restaurants. Injuries such as slips and falls, cuts, burns, strains and sprains account for more than 85 percent of teen injuries in restaurants.

• Are quick-service restaurants unsafe for teen workers?

  No. On the whole, restaurants provide safe, healthy working conditions for teenagers and workers of all ages. Restaurant owners and the WRA know it's in the best interest of everyone to maintain a healthy, stable and injury-free workforce. But there's room for improvement, particularly considering how many teens are employed in these restaurants statewide. The restaurant industry is the largest employer of teens and, therefore, has the highest frequency of injuries for teens. L&I and the WRA recognize that a restaurant is often the first employment opportunity for many teens. Making a first job as positive an experience as possible will ensure a better-prepared adult workforce.

• How does the teen-safety program work?

  Working with the WRA, we conduct three-hour "Supervising for Safety" workshops around the state each quarter. As an outcome of those workshops, we ask participating restaurants to implement new safety procedures, conduct regular crew safety meetings and place the "Rated R" stickers on equipment prohibited for use by teens. We share educational materials with restaurant owners, and provide whatever support they need to prevent teen injuries.

• Are there any other elements for the program?

  Yes. We are asking participating restaurants to complete a safety-orientation checklist for new and current employees, address "best practices" one-page fact sheets about common safety hazards in restaurants at crew meetings, complete incident-tracking forms of injuries not requiring an injury claim for one quarter, and adopt a policy requiring workers to wear non-slip shoes.

• Do you have specific goals for this teen-safety program?

• How will you know if the program is successful?

  We intend to follow injury data over time among restaurants to determine if the program succeeds in reducing injuries.

  In addition, restaurants were contacted to review implementation of program elements. We collected feedback from operators to identify which program elements were useful and which were not.

• Is this a voluntary program for quick-service restaurants?

  Yes. L&I is working with employers in a proactive way. We hope that by making the training and other elements of the program accessible and easy to integrate into day-to-day business practices, employers will find that following the elements of this program is positive for their business.

  We also hope this program will help employers improve their safety performance, reduce injuries and the costs associated with them, improve morale, and enhance compliance with the current requirements.

• Do you have some basis to know that this program will be successful?

  We conducted a three-month pilot project in Thurston County during the spring of 2001, with positive results. When comparing the pilot period to the quarter immediately preceding it, the injury rate dropped by 28 percent for the pilot-program participants, compared with a drop of 3.4 percent for all quick-service restaurants statewide. By the end of fiscal year 2001, the pilot-program participants had a claim injury rate that was 27 percent below the rate for all quick-service restaurants.
  

  It appears the impact of the pilot program extended beyond its participants. During fiscal year 2001 for all quick-service restaurants throughout the state, there was a 16 percent drop in injuries among all age groups. When broken down by age group, there was a 22 percent drop in the number of injuries to minors (primarily 16- and 17-year-olds) and a 15.5 percent drop in the number of injuries to adults. In the top three injury categories (lacerations, thermal burns and sprains), which comprise 70 percent of all injuries among minors, there was a 17 percent drop during fiscal year 2001 among minors and a 13.4 percent drop among adults for the same injury categories.

• Where can I get more information about teen-safety in restaurants?

  Please select this link to review the workshop program materials.

Information also is available by contacting the people listed below:

• Mary Miller, Occupational Health Nurse, L&I, 360-902-6041
• Anthony Anton, Executive Director WRA, 1-800-225-7166