OSHA Restaurant Standards: What Attorneys Should Know
Restaurants are workplaces.
That means restaurant employers may be subject to OSHA restaurant standards designed to protect employees from workplace safety and health hazards.
Restaurant operations can expose employees to hot liquids, steam, cooking equipment, slippery floors, chemicals, electrical equipment, sharp objects, and numerous other hazards.
Understanding which OSHA requirements apply can become important when analyzing a restaurant incident.
What Is OSHA?
OSHA stands for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA was created following passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, commonly called the OSH Act.
The OSH Act established a federal framework for protecting workers from workplace safety and health hazards.
President Richard Nixon signed the Act into law on December 29, 1970.
More than five decades later, OSHA remains an important part of workplace safety throughout the United States.
OSHA Standards and Restaurants
OSHA divides workplace standards into several major industry categories.
These include:
- General Industry
- Construction
- Maritime
- Agriculture
Restaurants generally fall within General Industry.
Therefore, applicable OSHA General Industry standards can be important when evaluating restaurant employee safety.
However, not every OSHA standard applies to every restaurant or every restaurant incident.
The particular work, hazard, equipment, and circumstances determine which requirements may apply.
What OSHA Restaurant Standards May Apply?
Restaurants contain many different workplace hazards.
Depending on the operation, applicable OSHA requirements may involve issues such as:
- Personal protective equipment
- Electrical safety
- Hazard communication
- Walking-working surfaces
- Machine guarding
- Sanitation
- Employee training
- Chemical exposure
- Recordkeeping
- Emergency procedures
- Other recognized workplace hazards
The existence of an OSHA regulation does not mean it automatically applies to every restaurant situation.
The specific standard must apply to the particular workplace condition, practice, operation, or process.
What Is OSHA’s General Duty Clause?
One of the most important concepts in workplace safety is the General Duty Clause.
Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act requires covered employers to provide employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
The General Duty Clause can become relevant when a serious recognized workplace hazard exists but no specific OSHA standard addresses that particular hazard.
OSHA has identified several elements used when evaluating a General Duty Clause violation.
Among them are whether the hazard was recognized, whether employees were exposed, whether the hazard could cause death or serious physical harm, and whether a feasible method existed to correct or reduce the hazard.
Industry Standards and OSHA Are Not the Same Thing
This distinction is especially important in restaurant litigation.
OSHA requirements and restaurant industry standards are not automatically the same thing.
OSHA standards are regulatory requirements.
Restaurant industry standards and practices may come from different sources, including established operating practices, industry publications, manufacturer instructions, training materials, company procedures, and recognized consensus standards.
In some circumstances, industry or consensus standards may also provide evidence that a particular workplace hazard was recognized.
However, that does not automatically transform every industry practice into an OSHA regulation.
An expert analysis should identify the source of a particular requirement or practice and explain why it is relevant.
OSHA and Hot Coffee Burns
Hot coffee and tea present recognized burn and scald hazards for restaurant employees.
Employees may prepare coffee, operate beverage equipment, handle hot pots, work around steam, or carry hot beverages throughout a restaurant.
Employee training and safe operating procedures can therefore become important.
Depending on the facts of a hot coffee incident, an analysis may include:
- Employee training
- Hot beverage procedures
- Coffee-making equipment
- Equipment maintenance
- Personal protective equipment
- Workplace conditions
- Restaurant policies and procedures
- Applicable OSHA requirements
- Restaurant industry standards
For an employee burn, OSHA requirements may be directly relevant to workplace safety.
For a customer burn, OSHA should not automatically be presented as establishing a legal duty to that customer.
However, restaurant procedures, employee training, equipment practices, manufacturer instructions, and restaurant industry standards may still become relevant to the operational analysis.
OSHA Restaurant Standards in Litigation
When OSHA becomes relevant to a restaurant case, the analysis should be specific.
What standard applies?
Who does it protect?
What hazard does it address?
What did the restaurant require?
What were employees trained to do?
What actually happened?
Those questions are far more useful than simply saying, “OSHA applies.”
As a restaurant expert witness, Howard Cannon examines restaurant operations, employee training, policies, procedures, workplace practices, and applicable industry standards in restaurant litigation.
The objective is to identify the relevant standards and practices and compare them with the evidence surrounding the incident.
Got a Coffee Burn Case?
A coffee burn case may involve more than beverage temperature.
It may involve the cup, lid, equipment, employee training, preparation procedures, handoff, management practices, restaurant industry standards, and — when applicable — workplace safety requirements.
Know which standard applies before deciding what the standard means.
Restaurant Expert Witness – Howard Cannon provides expert opinions, reports, testimony, and restaurant industry analysis for attorneys handling restaurant-related litigation.
Got a coffee burn case? Call 800.300.5764.