incident report

8220-F Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126 [email protected] (858) 566-6100

TO: Glendy Kang, Business Owner Andrew Samida, Director of Operations FROM: Student Name, Assistant Manager DATE: October 6, 2014 SUBJECT: Injury Incident with Jim Delcarmen in BOH on October 6, 2014 Type of Incident Our employee Jim Delcarmen at the Yogurtland location on 8220-F Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92126 cut his left palm causing excessive bleeding. The incident occurred while attempting to open a can of lychee fruit using a can opener on October 6, 2014. Following his injury, Jim was taken to the hospital by our manager, Kaye Macabale, where he received 15 stitches. Description of Incident On Monday October 6, 2014, our employees Kaye Macabale (ID: 1234) and Jim Delcarmen (ID: 4321) were working together. Kaye was in the front of house (FOH) on the registers and serving the customers while Jim was in the back of house (BOH) prepping fruit to put out for the cold table. Jim was busy switching and filling fruit containers: strawberries, kiwis, cherries, peaches, mangos, watermelon, etc. This task requires you to walk to the BOH to obtain the prepped fruit then bring it to the FOH to fill the cold topping bar. At 2:15 p.m. Jim finished filling containers. During this time we usually fill the container of lychee as it is our only fruit or topping that comes in a can. Jim walks to the FOH to take the halfway empty container of lychee and brings it to the BOH. He obtains the can of lychee and one of our Amco Swing-A-Way 6090 Easy Crank Can Openers. As he sets the can opener on the can and puts it into place, he notices it is a bit rusty and dull. He proceeds anyways. The can opener was not smooth and was unable to cut through completely leaving some of the can closed. Upon seeing this, Jim decided to use his bare hands to lift the unopened side and pull it off since half was opened already. Seconds after lifting the top of the half opened can, Jim’s left palm started bleeding. The sharp edge of the can cut diagonally from between his thumb and pointer finger all the way to his wrist. He immediately dropped the can opener and reached for the paper towels because excessive blood loss occurred and it was getting on the floor. He notified our manager Kaye who was near the registers and she came over to him since there were no customers in line at the time. Kaye agreed to take him to the hospital while Jim used his other hand to call another coworker to come in to fill in his absence due to an emergency. As they waited for Joanne Cortez (ID: 2468) to come in to take over the store so they could go to the hospital, Jim sat in the back applying pressure to the cut while Kaye managed what she could in FOH.

After the Incident

Joanne arrived at Yogurtland at 2:45 p.m. Once she was aware of what was going on, Jim went inside Kaye’s car as she drove to Sharp Memorial Hospital located at 7901 Frost Street, San Diego, CA 92123. It is only on rare occasions that we only have one employee working at a time due to safety precautions. However, in this case of an unexpected emergency, Kaye could not let Jim drive alone and other staff members could not get to work in such short notice. Joanne managed the store by herself, awaiting Kaye to return.

At 3:25 p.m., the doctors examined Jim’s hand, cleaned up the cut, and gave him Tylenol as a pain reliever. As they waited to hear back for the results of the examination from the doctor, Kaye called the Yogurtland and told Joanne to take note of the time they left and to also write down their contact info for our record: Kaye Macabale: (760) 534-7217, Jim Delcarmen: (858) 722- 9699. Moments later, the doctor explained to the both of them that Jim’s hand needed 15 stitches. Kaye stayed at the hospital until 4:12 p.m. when our Director of Operations at Yogurtland, Andrew Samida, arrived. Once Andrew got to the hospital, Kaye left and drove back to Yogurtland so that she could finish her shift and help Joanne out.

Causes of Incident The manager and I observed all our can openers and found that two out of the four being used were significantly dull. Jim Delcarmen happened to be using one of the dull openers. Once he noticed that it was too rusty or dull, he should not have used it. The problem with sharp tools such as knives, or can openers in this case, becoming dull is that they require more force to use and press through food or cans which means you are more likely to lose control of the tool. When you apply more pressure, you increase the risk of the sharp object slipping or cutting you. Because the opener was dull and did not open the can of lychee all the way, Jim used his bare hands to pull it off himself thus touching the sharp edge and cutting his left palm. Recommendations I have made the following recommendations that are to be carried out immediately for the safety of our staff:

1. Enforce safety regulations Although all employees are required to take a Food Handlers test that also covers kitchen safety, prevention may begin by emphasizing and reminding our employees of such rules and regulations. Oftentimes we take safety for granted but it is

especially important in the kitchen. We should educate our staff more in regard to this by having each employee read and agree to a safety contract. Once he/she goes through the contract that will cover sharp object safety and expected behavior, they must initial their name to indicate they are aware of the rules and regulations and that they agree to follow them. One rule or regulation would be to do a routine check on all the tools we are using so our staff does not have to use dull knives or can openers. From there, we may even post safety signs or reminders near the prep table for further enforcements. By making these enforcements, we will also demonstrate to our employees how serious we feel about safety in our business and for their well-being.

2. Use of Safety Can Opener Aside from getting rid of all dull knives and can openers, we should also include Safety Can Openers in our operations. These can openers quickly and easily open cans while eliminating sharp edges on cut lids. They are designed to cut the seal where the lid and can meet as opposed to cutting through the lid and leaving sharp edges. The powerful cutting wheel pierces the side of the can to cut the lid clean. This

method also prevents the lid from falling into the food and keeps the gear clean. Not only will our can openers be sharp enough to open cans completely, they will also leave the edges safe if we ever make contact with them. We will never have to worry about cans cutting us anymore! I will order 8 Zyliss Safe Edge Can Openers (Item no: 6106157) at $17.99 each from Ace Hardware. We will keep the extra can openers in the BOH just in case we ever need to replace them.

3. Use of Cut Resistant Safety Gloves When slicing food in a hurry, as most restaurants do, even the most adept hand can slip. In order to protect employees from harm, we can provide Cut Resistant Safety Gloves. These gloves are typically constructed of material that are not easily slashed or punctured, like Kevlar, stainless steel or fiberglass. These materials are usually on the outer layer of the glove while the inner layer is composed of regular textile materials, like cotton, to provide comfort. If we put these gloves near the prep station where all the knives are, our employees can

make good use of them. The best way to guarantee safety is to prevent hazards in the first place. Since a lot of the work we do every day in the BOH at Yogurtland requires cutting and prepping food, these gloves will keep our hands safe in the process. I will order 4 pairs in each size of Kevlar Cut Resistant Gloves (Item no: S-7893) for a total of $5.25 at Uline. All our employees must use these gloves under their food prep gloves.