The Top 5 Workplace Injuries: How the Hospitality Industry Can Recognize & Prevent Workplace Injuries

7/3/2024

By: The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Fund

Ensuring the safety of both employees and guests in Michigan's restaurant and lodging industry is vital due to the numerous hazards inherent in these environments. Maintaining a safe work and service environment not only protects your employees and reduces worker’s compensation claims, but it also enhances the overall guest experience.

Proactively understanding and addressing common hazards is crucial for maintaining a safe and efficient workplace. Below are the five most common injuries for the hospitality industry and the measures to mitigate them effectively.

#1. Handling Cleaning Chemicals and Hot Equipment

In both hotels and restaurants, employees often handle cleaning chemicals and hot cooking equipment, posing serious risks such as chemical burns, respiratory issues, and thermal burns.

Prevention: Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves, masks, and heat-resistant gloves. Ensure proper labeling and storage of chemicals and provide training on their safe use.

#2. Slips, Trips, and Falls

Even a small spill in the kitchen can cause a massive worker’s compensation claim. Slick kitchen floors, messes in dining areas or recently cleaned or waxed floors can lead to slips, trips, and falls, with minor to major injuries.

Prevention: Maintain strict cleanliness, promptly address spills, use mats in high-risk areas, and ensure adequate lighting. Require employees to wear non-slip shoes at all times, greatly reducing the risk of slips, trips and falls. Employers should enforce a 100% requirement for nonslip shoes for all staff working in areas prone to wet or slippery conditions, such as kitchens and dining areas. Provide information on appropriate footwear and consider offering assistance or incentives for purchasing the correct shoes.

Another common way employees can injure themselves is by using a ladder unsafely. Unstable ladders, or improper use of a ladder, can lead to falls and serious injuries. To prevent injuries select the right type of ladder for the task, and make sure all ladders are in working order. Also, be sure to encourage safety when using ladders. For more information, visit https://www.laddersafetytraining.org.

#3. Burns and Cuts

While kitchen staff in particular face risks of burns and cuts from hot stoves, ovens, and sharp utensils, any employee who improperly handles a sharp utensil or enters the kitchen could potentially incur injury while on the job.

Prevention: Train all staff on proper use of kitchen equipment, provide cut-resistant gloves, and enforce knife-handling safety protocols.

#4. Fire Risks

It goes without saying that restaurants bring the heat. However, the constant - and necessary - use of stoves, ovens, and other cooking equipment in kitchens also carries an inherent risk of fires. Likewise, multi-story hotels pose their own hazards, and most lodging businesses are careful to comply with fire codes.

Prevention: Install fire suppression systems, such as automatic sprinklers, and keep fire extinguishers accessible and updated. Regularly check and maintain those systems, replacing extinguishers and the batteries in smoke detectors as needed. Conduct regular fire safety training for staff.

#5. Ergonomic Injuries

Tasks requiring repetitive motion or awkward postures, like carrying heavy trays or making beds, can lead to chronic musculoskeletal injuries.

Prevention: Offer ergonomic training, provide assistive devices, and redesign tasks to minimize physical strain.

Other Safety Tips:

For the hospitality industry, workplace safety is more than checking boxes on a to-do list. It’s also essential to maintain a culture of workplace safety in each business and to incorporate safety checks, communications, and strategies into daily routines so that safety is top-of-mind and a top priority. Here are a few ways hospitality businesses can create a workplace culture that encourages employee well-being:

Ongoing Safety Communications
Continuous safety communications are essential to keep safety top of mind, to brush up on best practices, and to update guidelines in a timely manner. By informing

Safety communications should be prioritized in new employee orientation and onboarding procedures, but that should not be the only time employees are reminded about proper procedures. Conduct safety communications at regular intervals.

Regular Safety Inspections
The best way to keep workers safe is to make sure the workplace is a secure environment. Regular inspections help identify and rectify problems before a workplace injury occurs. Make sure common but potentially harmful pieces of equipment, such as ladders, stoves, and knives, are in good condition. Keep working areas clean, unobstructed, and free of tripping hazards.

Recommendation: Involve the crew and staff in the process to promote a culture of safety and shared responsibility and consider making safety checks a scheduled part of the team’s routine.

By implementing safety measures, training, and equipment, Michigan’s restaurant and lodging industry can ensure safe and inviting environments for all. While keeping the workplace hazard-free reduces the risk of costly workers’ compensation claims, a commitment to safety also promotes a culture of care and compassion, benefiting both the employee and the guest: creating secure environments where people can live, work, travel and enjoy life is the very foundation of the hospitality experience.

The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Fund can assist you with your safety program and save you money. Contact RPS Regency at 800.686.6640 or mrlfund.org to get a quote.

The MRL Fund is a member-owned workers' compensation program with unbeatable rates of return. Members participating in the MRL Fund have enjoyed a 48% average profit return on workers' compensation coverage, with the same level of protection as an insurance company. Learn more about the MRL Fund here.

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