Compensation for chef scarred by fryer
Head Chef Steven Barnes was cleaning his kitchen at the Hotel Restaurant where he worked, after a long shift, when he suffered a serious burn to his arm.
Mr Barnes explained: “I had to clean all the kitchen surfaces, including the walls. I was wearing Chef’s whites provided by the hotel management, part of which was a short-sleeved tunic. The fryers were switched off but the oil was still near boiling. The end of the cloth dipped into the fryer while I was cleaning behind it. I didn’t see that happen and the cloth stuck to my forearm. I suffered a pretty bad burn which left me with a permanent scar.” He took a claim for personal injury compensation to Rapid Solicitors. A Solicitor at Rapid said: “We gathered all the witness statements and documents relating to the hotel’s accident at work and health & safety policies and presented our evidence to the Defendants. Our view was that Mr Barnes had not been issued with sufficient Personal Protective Equipment for the job. He had been permitted to clean around dangerously hot fryers in a short sleeved shirt, basically. We persuaded the Defendants to admit liability fairly quickly.” Mr Barnes’ Solicitor continued: “Our task was then to properly assess our Client’s injury and prognosis to determine a fair amount of compensation. We employed an expert in plastic & reconstructive surgery to help us to do that. One of the benefits of this kind of case is that it makes employers that much more careful about the health & safety of their employees for the future. Mr Barnes told us that the hotel management has since tightened up its conduct in relation to health & Safety in the workplace. Their employees were sent on Health & Safety courses and First Aid courses after his accident.” Mr Barnes said: “The service from Rapid was hassle-free and I was really, really pleased with the outcome.”
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