Three Potential Burn Risks For Baristas
Many teens, college students, and adults alike get employed at coffee shops working as baristas. This type of work requires you to juggle being personable with making and serving coffee in a timely manner, and while the hourly pay rate might not be a lot, the ability to earn tips can make this a good job. One thing to keep in mind about working as a barista is that there are risks to this type of work. The most significant way that you can get injured is from a burn. In the event of a burn that keeps you from being able to work, retaining a workers' compensation attorney to review your case and assess the potential negligence of your employer is a good idea. Here are three potential burn risks.
Someone Bumping Into You
Baristas frequently work in close quarters, and the area behind the counter of the coffee shop can be packed with people performing various tasks. Although most of your shifts may go seamlessly, it's possible to get burned with hot water or a hot beverage because of a colleague bumping into you. For example, if a colleague who is carrying a hot liquid turns without looking and makes contact with you, the liquid could spill onto your body and leave you with a serious burn. Your attorney will investigate to assess whether your employer was negligent in having more baristas working than the size of the space could accommodate.
You Spilling On Yourself
It's also possible for you to spill hot water or another hot beverage on yourself, resulting in a serious burn. At first glance, it's easy to write off such an injury to your mistake and not consider the employer to have any role. However, your workers' compensation attorney's investigators will want to discern whether this is indeed true. There are many reasons that your employer could be negligent, even if you were to burn yourself. For example, if you were handling a container that held hot water but you weren't aware of this because the container wasn't marked, this demonstrates a degree of negligence.
A Customer Assaulting You
Occasionally, irate coffee shop customers get arrested for splashing hot coffee or tea onto baristas for any number of unfortunate reasons. While you might wish to meet with an attorney to discuss a personal injury suit against the culprit, your employer's potential negligence could also lead to a workers' compensation suit. For example, if the customer made threats against the baristas but the employer didn't take the threats seriously by calling the police and having the person banned from the premises, your employer may be complicit.
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