Some injuries are complete and total accidents. Others are due to reckless, negligent behavior. If you know what can cause these injuries, then you will be better prepared to avoid and prevent a burn injury at work. If you work in an industry that puts you at a higher risk for a burn injury at work, it is important to prioritize safety over speed and profit.
How-to Prevent a Burn Injury at Work: Safety Over Speed
Dangerous Industries
Some of the most dangerous occupations for potential burn injuries include food service workers, plant workers, welders, and an offshore drilling rig worker. If you work in these industries, it is important to know what to do in the event that someone gets a burn while on the job. Benjamin Franklin famously said “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That saying applies to this situation too. Knowing how to prevent a burn injury at work will go a long way in keeping everyone safe. That way, you will hopefully never have to use the knowledge of how to treat them.
Employer Responsibilities
Proper safety equipment and training will help employees to prevent a burn injury at work. Employers should always provide employees with the proper safety equipment to prevent burns. Protocols should be in place to remove hot liquids or chemical waste to reduce the risk of a burn. All employees, including new hires and tenured workers, should go through regular training. This will help ensure that they are working safely and not putting themselves or others at risk for an injury.
Prevention
Workers should have the proper tools and training to help them prevent a burn injury. For example, welders should be provided with proper gear to protect themselves from the very high heat they work with. Additionally, food staff workers should not be rushed to work so quickly that they put themselves at risk. They are around flames and hot surfaces all of the time. Set up a kitchen in a way that prevents too many people from being right in an area with flames or hot surfaces.
Burns do not always come from flames. They can also come from chemicals, causing a chemical burn. Plant workers are at a higher risk for this. If certain chemicals get onto someone’s skin, they can cause significant burns. Also, some gases and smoke can cause internal burn damage. These chemicals can also be highly flammable, leading to a risk of thermal burns as well. By having proper protocols regarding these chemicals, the risk of a burn injury will certainly go down.