Mcdonald's fined after employee is scalded by hot oil

Prosecutions and Claims |
31.03.2008

Burger chain McDonald's has been fined after a 17-year-old employee burned her arm in scalding oil.

The accident happened on 20 February 2005 at a McDonald's branch in Leicester.

The employee, who worked part-time at the restaurant, was walking past a fryer when she slipped on a piece of cardboard that had been used to soak up leaked oil.

She put an arm out to stop herself falling and submerged it in hot oil.

She suffered burns to her left hand and forearm and has been left with scarring.

On 28 March, McDonald's admitted four health and safety charges at Leicester Magistrates' Court, including: failing to fulfil its general duty to employees by using cardboard to soak up oil and creating a slip hazard; failing to complete its own accident investigation form; failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of slip risks; and failing to maintain a completed maintenance log for an oil-filtering machine.

The firm was fined £20,000 plus £18,879.91 prosecution costs.

Since the accident, McDonald's has redesigned the kitchen layout, upgraded the fryers and replaced the floor tiling at a cost of more than £27,000.

McDonald's solicitor, Katharine Vickery, said the company had cooperated fully with Leicester City Council's investigation and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.