Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1435321.015 - Wfm Hawaii Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Hi-E-Honolulu

Investigation Summary

At 11:00 a.m. on October 2, 2019, an employee was working as a cook for a supermarket or grocery store. She was in the kitchen prep area, next to an Imperial radiant broiler system (grill top) equipped with eight burners. She smelled gas. Her coworker also asked if the smelled gas. They both checked the Imperial grill top to see if the pilot light was on and lit. It was neither. The employee grabbed a stick lighter and tried to light the pilot from the grill top. When she did, a fireball engulfed her face and she screamed for help. She suffered severe facial burns. The employee was taken into a walk-in icebox to cool down. She filled out an accident form, clocked out, and drove to the nearest hospital. From there, she was transported via ambulance to a larger medical center for her burns. He was hospitalized for two or more days. The store's team leader was not in the kitchen area when the incident occurred. The state occupational safety and health agency responded to an employer referral. It did research to see if the store had any policies or procedures in its written safety and health program pertaining to the relighting of pilot light. The employer did not have any safe work practices or procedures in place for employees trying to relight the pilot light for an Imperial radiant broiler system (grill top) equipped with eight burners. The store's regional senior safety supervisor stated that she was working on establishing and implementing new policies and procedures for relighting pilot lights for kitchen equipment. She said that the store will establish and implement new policies and procedures and have all affected employees trained on these new policies and procedures.

Keywords: Burn, Burner, Cook, Face, Food Handling, Food Preparation, Food service, Grocery Store, Natural Gas, Open Flame, Pilot Light