An estimated 28,000 teens in fast food jobs are rushed to emergency rooms each year after suffering nasty falls, hot grease burns, and other injuries.

Filta is always helping to reduce accidents in kitchens by taking away the risks to staff around the fryers.  This is an article from Caremark showing some of the many issues.

By Ann Pappert
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE

As a young employee at McDonald’s, Tom Smith learned early that he would have to be careful with more than just flipping burgers. Although the restaurant enforced strict safety rules, one night while routinely cleaning the grill, Smith didn’t put on the insulated, fireproof gloves provided by the restaurant. When his arm slipped onto the grill, he sustained a nasty burn. “I thought I knew everything about cleaning, that I knew what I was doing, and I didn’t need to wear the gloves,” he recalls.

That was some ten years ago, but Smith, now an area supervisor for McDonald’s in Brooklyn, New York, still shares what he learned from that experience with his employees. “There’s a lot of repetition in these jobs, and it’s easy to become overconfident and take shortcuts that can lead to accidents,” he says. “I tell my workers that safety must be number one.” Smith, who is in his late twenties, has worked at McDonald’s since he was 16. As he talks, he glances over from time to time to the counter where his workers are filling orders industriously.

When things get busy, Smith, whose easy-going but no-nonsense manner fits right in with the rest of his crew, excuses himself to jump up and help his crew take drink orders or work the cash register.

Cathy Rivas, a college student working for Smith, says that her McDonald’s shift is great for students because the hours are flexible and Smith is happy to give her time off to study for exams. On any given day Rivas, who was working the counter during this reporter’s visit, may clear tables, sweep and mop the floor, scrub the bathroom, cook burgers and fries, and fill orders for soda and coffee. Because she’s performing multiple tasks, Rivas — like other fast-food workers — is exposed to numerous potential hazards. During an 8-hour day, she runs the risk of burning herself on a sizzling grill or fry basket, slipping and falling on a wet floor, or being exposed to harmful chemicals such as cleaning solvents. “They really emphasize safety here,” she says.

Safety is important in any job, but particularly so in the fast-food industry, where young and inexperienced workers abound. In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association, the fast-food industry is one of the largest employers of teens in the country, and many go on to senior positions. More than half of McDonald’s middle and senior managers started as fry cooks or other entry-level positions, and more than 50 percent of store owners began as crew members in a franchise. The fast-food industry also has one of the best records of promoting minorities.

But the industry has a troubling safety record. Of the 2.5 million teens working in the restaurant industry, the majority injured on the job are most likely to be working in fast-food outlets, according to a 1999 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Collecting data from a sample of hospitals across the country over a two-year period, NIOSH estimated that emergency rooms treated about 44,800 injuries suffered by teenage restaurant workers. Of those injuries, an estimated 28,000 — a whopping 63 percent — took place in hamburger, pizza, or other fast-food establishments. Interestingly, most of the injuries occurred in hamburger restaurants (52.6 percent), as compared to pizza places (12.6 percent) and chicken or fish restaurants (11.7 percent).

The NIOSH study also determined that nearly half of the injuries involved hot grease and that more than half of the injuries from falls were caused by wet or greasy floors. Researchers further found that the type of injury varied according to gender. Of teens working in fast-food restaurants, males were more likely to have burns, lacerations, and other injuries related to cooking, while females were more likely to suffer sprains, strains, and contusions associated with cashiering and clearing tables.

Researchers have also found that teens working in fast-food restaurants are six times more likely to be burned than teens working in any other industry. According to the Burn Foundation, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, teens working as fry cooks in fast-food restaurants are at special risk for burn injuries.

Not every worker who accidentally burns himself is as lucky as Tom Smith, whose lesions were relatively minor. Investigating burns among restaurant workers in Colorado and Minnesota, researchers found that of the 71 teenagers in Minnesota who had had work-related burns, 31 suffered permanent scarring. (Of these injuries, 28 occurred in fast-food restaurants, and 14 of those accidents involved hot grease.) One 16-year-old crew cook in a Minnesota fast-food outlet was burned over much of his body as he was pushing a container of hot grease outside to filter it. As he reached the door, the container slipped and the lid popped off, spilling the scalding grease all over him.

According to the Burn Foundation, burns are likely to occur when workers ignore safety rules, are pressed for time and take shortcuts, or when they become too familiar with their jobs and take unnecessary risks. Tom Smith agrees. “Most accidents happen from overconfidence and cutting corners,” he says. “Preventing burns is mostly a question of using common sense.” At the McDonald’s he manages, new employees receive on-the-job training alongside more experienced workers and practice with training cards.

Fast-food employees also need to be aware of the ever-present potential for robberies or random violence in their establishments. Five employees of a Wendy’s in Queens, New York, for example, were shot to death in early 2000. Tom Smith took the tragedy to heart.

“I used it as an occasion to remind the employees to always follow our set procedures for robberies,” he says, adding that the rules include barring any ex-employees from going behind the counter. In addition, he cautioned workers not to panic or try to play the hero — in other words, to simply hand over the money. To deter hold-ups, managers also skim large bills from the registers during the day, and prominently display a sign stating the employees don’t have access codes to open the safe.

Here are some other safety tips from NIOSH and industry experts:

• Prevent burn injuries by providing employees with appropriate gloves and scrapers and other cleaning tools with handles.
• Allow hot grease to cool before you move it.
• Wherever possible, use slip-resistant flooring to prevent falls and keep floors dry and well maintained.
• Wear nonskid shoes to prevent slipping.
• Extinguish hot oil or grease fires by sliding a lid over the container.
• Avoid reaching over or across hot surfaces and burners.
• Don’t plug in electrical equipment while touching a wet or damp surface.

To guard against accidental electrocution, NIOSH also recommends that employers buy plugs and receptacles that don’t energize before insertion is complete; construct receptacle boxes out of non-conductive materials; label all fuse boxes and circuit breakers; and train workers in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

 – Ann Pappert has coproduced stories on health for Dateline NBC, worked as an associate producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s “Fifth Estate,” and served as a consultant on in vitro fertilization to the World Health Organization and Ontario Ministry of Health. A freelance journalist in New York, she has also written for the Toronto Star, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and Canadian Doctor.

Having invested in his Filta Franchise a year ago, Franchose Owner JJ Paul discusses the business and his experiences.  JJ Paul occasionally writes to this blog as a guest writer.

Earth Day is coming soon, so we thought it would be worth taking a look at how Filta helps kitchens reduce their carbon footprints.  Well, with three “green” services, Filta helps in many ways including:

• Reducing the amount of cooking oil being used
• Reducing the energy consumption of fryers
• Taking the waste oil and sending it through to BiodDiesel
• Reducing food wastage
• Reducing cooler energy consumption and costs
• Prolonging the life of the coolers thereby putting back the day a new one needs to be manufactured

Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.

Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs. Earth Day Network is galvanizing millions who make personal commitments to sustainability. Earth Day 2010 is a pivotal opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy. Join the more than one billion people in 190 countries that are taking action for Earth Day.

Visit http://www.earthday.org/

New Filta Franchose Owner Bob Smith talks on screen at the end of  his training course in Orlando, FL

Hot on the heels of  its “Best of Orlando award“ from The U.S. Commerce Association, The Filta Group was awarded 30th place in the national Franchise Hot 100 published by redhotfranchises.com.

This award recognizes the growth of individual franchisees in the Filta network as well as the strength of the business model during the trying economy of the last couple of years. 

The FiltaFry, FiltaCool and FiltaBio services combine to make up the Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions business.

I found some great information that I thought I would share with current or potential customers.

Did you know that the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the CDC) conducted an 18 month study and found that over 5,200 adolescent (young workers) sought emergency-room treatment for work related burns associated with cooking in a place where food was prepared? Of the hazards where burns occurred, servicing cooking equipment (i.e. adding, filtering, removing hot grease from fryers, and cleaning) ranked toward the top. It’s not a matter of if someone will get burned, but when.

We all have a responsibility to educate food service workers on proper safety when it comes to working with and around deep fryers.

Filta just launched its FiltaBio service. Once the cooking oil has come to the end of its life, Filta can collect the oil and immediately remove it safely from the site… in most cases with no waste oil drums or containers continually attracting rats and other unwanted issues.

From there, the oil is purified and the majority sent to be made into biodiesel, the safe and environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemical based diesel.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States spends about $475,000 a minute on foreign oil – a staggering number when you stop to think about it. The annual total spent on crude oil imports is approximately $250 billion. The U.S. uses approximately 20 million barrels of oil a day (that’s about 3 gallons a day for every person in the country), more than half of which is imported. By 2025, demand is expected to rise to 26 million barrels a day – about 60 percent of which will be imported.

Consider this: In addition, China’s rising oil demand and imports have made it a significant factor in world oil markets. China is second only to the U.S. in consumption, surpassing Japan for the first time in 2003. Transportation sector ranks first in consumption. Roughly 67 percent of all U.S. oil consumption is in the transportation sector.

About 37 billion gallons of on-road diesel are used each year in the U.S. According to the EIA, reducing demand for oil in the transportation sector will have to be the central component in any serious effort to reduce the overall demand for oil.

A job analysis may seem like a big project that is unnecessary for the average restaurant owner.  While job analysis are a tool that is most commonly seen being used in big corporations, it is indeed practical for usage in small organizations, especially those that require employees to handle a multitude of tasks in a given day.

In essence, a job analysis is a written description that outlines the job expectations, job functions, and job description for any given position.  The benefit to taking the time to do this for each position in your restaurant is two fold.  First, it gives every team member a clear understanding of who is responsible for what activities on a daily basis.  Secondly, it provides a guideline to review your employees by, allowing you to clearly see where an employee lacks or excels in their job duties.  The hidden benefit is that in the event that you need to discipline or even terminate the employment of an individual, you can clearly prove that the employee understood their job duties and failed to meet expectations.  This can avoid costly unemployment claims and negativity against your restaurant in the marketplace.

Writing a job analysis is not a complicated matter.  Consider the role of each employee on both a day to day basis and long term objectives.  Walk through the work day visually for each position held in your restaurant.  If you are not well versed in each employee’s duties, tag along with one of them for the day and keep track of what is done and what could be added or removed from their workload to make business run more efficiently.  Aside from physical duties, consider what  you expect from each position in regards to personality, attire, and attitude.  Set goals that you think are reasonable for personal growth and document these carefully.

Once you have your basic notes, write the details down in a simple format that clearly states the expectations and duties.  Also include disciplinary actions that will be faced if these expectations and duties are not met.  It is important to make sure that you stick by what you put in writing, although allow for flexibility and make changes as needed over time.

Be sure to share your job analysis for each position with your co-managers and other support staff, and make sure that it is used as a report card to keep track of employee progress.  While it should not take more than a few hours to write a job analysis, the time saved will be a blessing when it is time for you to review your employees for consideration of raises.  Having a firm checklist they agreed to upon being hired to compare their work against avoids what can otherwise be an awkward and daunting process that most managers dread.

So while generally considered a  tool for large organizations with human resource departments, even the smallest of start up restaurants can benefit from a detailed job analysis.

Professor Bob Ashley of the Rosen School of Hospitality and Hotel Management talks about the FiltaFry service.

See what people who have been to a Filta Discovery Day say… you may be surprised.  Here they talk about the day, the people they meet and the FiltaFry business.

Toss out everything you learned about marketing prior to last year. 

Even those with marketing degrees may be looking at how successful businesses today handle marketing while scratching their heads in confusion and wonder.  The internet has virtually done away with newspapers, quite literally in some markets.  Gone are the days of running expensive paper ads, mailing coupons in the mail and guessing which radio spots will work best for your restaurant.  Social media is all the buzz in all aspects of marketing today and the best part is that, for the most part, it is free!

Social media, according to Wikipedia, is “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”  What that means in plain English is it is a way to use the internet to reach your target audience directly with little more than a few strokes of your keyboard.

So how can social media marketing benefit your restaurant?  Easy.  It’s been proven by the National Restaurant Association that the bulk of your business will be repeat customers.  Someone comes into your establishment, enjoys a fine meal and comes back for more.  Tapping into their attention span while they are online reading their email, chatting with friends, or catching up on Facebook gives you an opportunity to directly place your restaurant into their mind.

The best way to start is to let your customer know you have an internet presence.  Give them incentive to accept you into their virtual world by handing out cards when they check out with your restaurants online information.  Your website, myspace profile, Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account should all be listed.  If you do not have these, or have no idea where to begin, you can likely get one of your internet savvy employees to happily set these up for you. Reward your customers for adding you to their network by offering frequent coupons or other incentives available only to your followers.

It is important not to cross the line between friendly reminders and spam.  Nothing will kill your marketing plan faster than continually advertising to your audience.  The key is to mix your direct advertising with fun little bits that keep your audience engaged.  A perfect example would be for a pizza restaurant to post about a printable coupon in the morning before people are thinking about where to go for lunch, then in the afternoon share with your fans the fact that “The world largest pizza was a round pizza 122 feet and 8 inches across. The ingredients were 9,920 lbs of flour, 198 lbs of salt, 3968 lbs of cheese and 1984 lbs of tomato puree.”  While fun, these type of statements will get your fans talking about and passing along your name to their friends, eventually adding to your customer count.