Am I overreacting, or is this a serious workplace safety issue?
I just got home from work and I can’t stop thinking about what happened today. I work at a chain restaurant and have been with the company for a few years, and honestly, this situation really bothered me.
We brew tea in those large canisters/urns that hold a couple of gallons. The tea filter basket is supposed to be cleaned regularly, but at my location it is rarely even rinsed unless I do it. I’ve personally had to scrub the tiny filter inside and use a toothpick to unclog the holes because they get so blocked.
Today we had multiple large parties back-to-back for the same company, so we were really pressed for time. Someone brewed a full urn of tea, but apparently the filter was so clogged that it stopped draining. When I went to remove the tea filter basket, it was still COMPLETELY full of extremely hot tea.
The tea came pouring out and burned the hell out of my hand and arm.
My GM happened to walk up, saw what happened, said, “That sucks,” and went back to the host stand.
I immediately went to the office and asked another manager if we had burn spray, burn gel, burn cream—literally anything. He looked in the first-aid kit on the wall, which was basically empty, said, “We’re all out. I don’t think we have any anywhere,” and then went back to finish his orientation.
I ran my hand under cold water and then went back out and continued getting drinks out for a 20-top because we were slammed.
I went back to the office afterward and the third manager was clearly annoyed that I was bothering him. He didn’t even respond to me.
And then…nothing.
Nobody checked on me. Nobody asked how my hand was. Nobody documented what happened. Nobody seemed concerned that I had just been burned at work. My aunt eventually had to come bring me burn gel because apparently we didn’t have anything available at the restaurant.
Maybe I’m overthinking this, but the whole thing really bothered me. I understand restaurants get busy and people are under pressure, but I feel like there should at least be some basic concern when an employee gets burned by equipment that wasn’t properly maintained and the first-aid kit is empty.
And honestly, this is bigger than just today’s incident for me. This restaurant has gotten so far away from what I remember this company being that I don’t even know if I’m overreacting anymore because I’ve become so accustomed to things that probably shouldn’t be considered normal.
So, Reddit: am I being too sensitive, or is this genuinely not okay?