Occupational Health and Safety Issues for Young Fast-food Workers in Australia

Other than coming home smelling of fried foods, what are the occupational health and safety (OHS) issues for young workers in the fast-food industry in Australia?

The National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) initiated a research project, "Occupational Health and Safety Issues For Young Casual Workers in the Fast-food Industry October 1999," to assess OHS) issues for young fast-food workers.

Young workers often have poorer OHS outcomes. However, explanations of why this is true, and the development of appropriate strategies to preventive injuries and illness among young workers, are in their infancy.

This study assessed the work-related injury and illness patterns of young workers, their recognition of hazard and risk exposures, and other threats to their well-being, the effectiveness of training programs and management systems on OHS, and the extent to which some government policies and programs influenced OHS outcomes.

This study was carried out within the one company across three states of Australia and involved 304 young employees at 132 outlets of a fast-food chain. Approximately half of these outlets were company-owned stores, and the rest were operated under a franchise agreement. All interviews were conducted on a face-to-face basis using a standard questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions, and a semi-structured interview schedule. The names of the interviewees were not recorded (87% randomly selected), and specific store outlets where interviews took place and the name of the company remain confidential.

Overall, it was found that:

• Injury patterns were consistent: minor burns and lacerations were very common. However, time-loss injuries were rare events and usually followed manual handling or slip/trip/fall incidents. While occupational violence in the form of verbal abuse was common, threats and assaults were very rare events.
• Most time-loss injuries occurred in the mornings or at lunchtime, and were task-related rather than being time-of-shift or fatigue-related.
• Workers new to the job were not more likely to have a time-loss injury in this company.
• A comprehensive management system where OHS was integrated into all work tasks and processes of production (rather than OHS being "stand-alone") resulted in very high levels of OHS legislative knowledge; enhanced ability to recognize the relationship between hazard and risk exposures and injury outcomes; excellent understanding of prevention strategies; and improved OHS outcomes amongst the young casual workers. (Although it has to be noted that a good OHS management system will not always prevent a fatality.
• Employees in all store outlets cited similar hazards and risks.
• While on-the-job training was comprehensive for each task performed, the young workers rarely recognized it as "training".
• Most of the young workers interviewed remained for two to three years with the same employer, so their employment was not "short-term."
• Customers overdosing on heroin (and other substances) and collapsing on-site may be an emerging OHS issue for food outlet workers.
• The company where the survey took place may be unique in its comprehensive integration of OHS into all production tasks. Hence the relatively good OHS performance may be atypical of other fast-food chains operating in Australia. The OHS legal responsibility of the franchiser to the employees of franchisees may be more generally extensive in Queensland and Victoria than many people recognize.

The evidence indicated that the young workers interviewed had absorbed significant levels of OHS content, but they did not recognize that they had been trained to do this. According to the study, this misunderstanding is most likely due to the marked differences between classroom and on-the-job teaching/learning methods. Young workers are accustomed to a teacher/classroom situation and did not interpret on-the-job training as "real" training. Also, workers found it harder to spot OHS training since it was integrated into all on-the-job training rather than being stand alone.

One of the most crucial findings of the study is that young workers had an injury and illness profile similar to that of full-time permanent employees in similar jobs. This is a notable achievement, according to the government, since contingent workers often have a much higher incidence of injuries and illnesses than do full-time permanent workers. Just how this outcome was achieved provides evidence of strategies that can work for other employers of young workers.

To improve occupational safety and health among young workers, researchers made the following recommendations:

• Develop a management system that incorporates OHS into all production work tasks (rather than OHS being a "stand alone" area).
• Make a management commitment to improved OHS.
• Rigorously record hazards and risks, near miss events, and minor injuries. Integrate of OHS into all training programs.
• Enhance training for young workers.
• For stores that have some franchised outlets, develop a franchisee agreement that requires acceptance and implementation of a rigorous company management system.
• Larger chain stores, together with their industry associations, could lobby suppliers to deliver bulk stores in "rip top" boxes which do not require the use of Stanley knives to open them. Because the major fast-food chains have considerable market power, if they insist on "rip-top" openings in all boxed deliveries, the need to use Stanley knives may be totally removed.
• Develop detailed and standardized procedures for the use of deep fryers, with particular attention to the cleaning, filtering, and removal of oil/grease.
• Incorporate the use of head set noise level adjustment controls in company training (at stores where there are drive-thru outlets).
• Enhance occupational violence risk control measures.
• Enforce company policies on manual handling, including maximum weights to be lifted, restricted number of continuous hours of manual handling per day, and promotion of use of guidance materials.
• Expand the role of OHS committees to include health and safety representatives.
• Conduct benchmarking studies across other fast-food chains and other employers of young casual workers.

If a hard copy of the full report is required, please contact the NOHSC Small Business Unit.

By Sandy Smith