How to Avoid Electrical Accidents in Your Restaurant

It was a shocking situation. A restaurant worker in Canada was simply activating a switch on the control panel of a 45-liter cooking kettle when he was suddenly jolted by a severe electrical shock. According to a report by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety -- the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) -- the cause of the incident was an internal mechanical problem with the kettle.

Apparently, a pressurized hose had detached from a fitting, allowing an electrical compartment to fill with water, and immersing a critical electrical terminal within that compartment. As a result, the kettle walls and the control panel were electrified. The innocent and unwitting employee had no idea the problem existed until he touched the control panel.

Fortunately, the worker survived the ordeal, but not everyone is so lucky. According to a report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), it was about 1 a.m. when disaster struck a fast-food restaurant crew during routine after-hours cleanup: moving portable equipment, sweeping up, and damp-mopping the floors. According to the report, an 18-year-old worker who had been on the job for 15 months knelt down on a recently damp-mopped floor to plug in a portable electrical toaster. He lifted the spring-loaded cover of the receptacle with one hand, and inserted the plug with the other. Nobody saw him until it was too late.

Hearing a noise, the assistant manager went back to tell the workers to quit the horseplay. He found the worker on the floor with one hand wrapped around the receptacle box, the other hand on the plug, and his face on top of the outlet.

Another employee, attempting to take the worker's pulse, received a shock in the process. Current was still flowing through the victim's body.