Costa had
been working at Pete's Perfect Pastries for many years. He
was 27 years old and was a production assistant with experience
in all parts of the job. He hoped to move up to pastry cook
in the near future.
One night, he was about to unload the oven when Marcel, a packer, walked behind him with a stack of crates. As he was passing, another worker called to Marcel, he looked away and ran straight into Costa's back. Costa reacted instinctively. His hand shot out to break his fall, palm first onto the hot oven rack.
Costa was immediately taken to hospital. He had received third degree burns to his dominant right hand. The wound was dressed and he was sent home. He was given 2 days off work and told to wear a protective dressing and soft cotton glove under latex gloves when he returned to work. He had to keep the wound dry and would not be able to grasp properly for at least 2 weeks. Pete rang the insurer to report the injury and send through Costa's medical certificate. The insurer advised Pete to look through the job dictionary to see what tasks would need changing for Costa, and to call if he needed any help.
Pete looked up the job dictionary. He hadn't really used it before and was surprised at how much detail it included. He worked out Costa would not be able to do any finishing as he couldn't hold things properly. He also couldn't carry trays. However, he was surprised by how much Costa could do.
When Costa went back to work, he was able to prepare the dough. He even found, with a little practice, that he could cut the dough using his left hand. He could make the cakes, do most of the filling except for piping, and the doughnuts. With his experience, Pete also put him to good use supervising and training the junior staff.
While he was training, he thought about his injury. It had been an accident, but one which could so easily happen again with possibly worse consequences. Something needed to be done to try and prevent this in future. But what?
Costa looked around the work area and saw a possible answer. He spoke to Pete and he agreed. They implemented a new procedure for the packers – a designated walking route which avoided the area near the ovens. The new ‘cool walk' was painted on the floor so even new staff could quickly learn the procedure.
And Costa implemented his own safe work procedure. From that day, he always wore gloves whenever he opened the oven.
