According to a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics work-related burns account for 20%- 25% of all serious burns. 6% of all work-related thermal burns occurred among adolescent workers aged 16-19 years. Shown in investigations in Colorado and Minnesota, restaurant-related burns, especially those associated with use of deep fryers, still represent a major and preventable source of occupational burn morbidity, particularly among teenage employees. These findings are consistent with the findings in other studies that emphasize the risk for burns associated with hot grease. Yet another recent study showed that of a group of 11 work related hospitalizations within the study group, 36 percent were burn related. More often than not, the source of burn injury happening in fast-food restaurants was hot grease- over half of the injuries sustained.

Looking over these facts, it’s easy to see that a new option needs to be used in food service industries- businesses need to be adopting a better way to handle their fryers and one such way that actually has been around for quite some time- is hiring outside help. Balancing the costs of these injuries, to say nothing of the pain that these teens have to endure as a result, it becomes clearer and clearer that hiring outside help in not only maintaining adequately working fryers is key. Remember that guy with the van you turned away last week who wanted to show you an hour demonstration of what he could do? You may want to call him back. Being able to bring on someone who knows fryers inside and out, but also exclusively deals with them, and has plenty of safety training backing them- this is definitely something you’ll want to at least look into.

Considering the level of insurance related costs, as well as the overall safety, it is clear that actually what many have considered a budget excess- one they felt they could not afford balances out. Hiring a Filtafry tech to do the work which would ordinarily take a staff member hours and hours, gets the job done in one hour. As well, this increases the life of the oil itself, which again, saves money on the budget. Then, factoring in the costs of these injuries- you don’t have to sacrifice the safety of your crew to make sure you have great working fryers, as well as being able to dispose of your waste oil at the end of its cycle. Compare the costs of a one hour visit from your Filtafry technician verses all of those other costs and you’ve got a clear balance- however, also consider that it is impossible to accurately figure into the budget potential injuries sustained. Some accidents may happen with very little injury at all, while others may result in long term hospitalizations and even plastic surgery. This is not an area you want to be rolling the dice when it comes to safety and simply having an outside source can improve the safety of your crew, which is something all responsible food service owners wish for.