Avoiding Burns Poster

Avoiding Burns Workplace Safety Poster

Help employees recognize and prevent common workplace burn hazards with the Avoiding Burns Workplace Safety Poster. This visual safety reminder reinforces safe work practices around hot surfaces, cooking equipment, steam, hot liquids, grease, oil, and other sources of thermal burns.

Burn hazards can occur in restaurants, commercial kitchens, food-service operations, manufacturing facilities, maintenance departments, healthcare facilities, and other workplaces where employees work around hot equipment, liquids, materials, or processes.

What Are Common Workplace Burn Hazards?

Employees can suffer burns from direct contact with hot surfaces or materials as well as from splashes, steam, grease, and other sources of heat. Common workplace burn hazards can include:

• Hot cooking oil and grease
• Steam and boiling water
• Hot food and beverages
• Ovens, grills, fryers, and cooking equipment
• Hot pots, pans, trays, and utensils
• Heated machinery and equipment
• Hot pipes and other surfaces
• Molten or heated materials
• Open flames and fire
• Hot liquids used in industrial or maintenance operations

How Can Employees Help Prevent Burns?

Employees should follow established workplace procedures and use appropriate protective equipment whenever they work around hot equipment, materials, or liquids.

Important burn-prevention practices can include:

• Use appropriate gloves, oven mitts, pot holders, or other protective equipment when required
• Assume pots, pans, utensils, and equipment near heat sources may be hot
• Keep hands, arms, and other body parts away from hot surfaces and equipment
• Open lids and heated containers away from the face and body to avoid steam
• Avoid leaning over boiling liquids or steaming equipment
• Use caution when carrying hot food, liquids, or materials
• Keep pot and pan handles positioned away from walkways and work-area edges
• Do not leave hot oil or grease unattended
• Keep water and ice away from hot cooking oil
• Report damaged or unsafe heating and cooking equipment

Prevent Burns From Steam and Hot Liquids

Steam and hot liquids can cause serious scald injuries. Employees should use caution when opening ovens, steamers, pressure equipment, heated containers, or lids that may release hot steam.

When opening a container holding hot or steaming material, employees should position themselves to reduce exposure to escaping steam and follow the equipment manufacturer's instructions and established workplace procedures.

Hot Oil and Grease Safety

Hot oil and grease can cause severe burns and should be handled carefully. Employees working around fryers and other cooking equipment should follow established procedures for operating, cleaning, filtering, draining, and maintaining the equipment.

Water or ice should not be introduced into hot cooking oil because the rapid formation of steam can cause hot oil to splatter or overflow. Employees should also avoid carrying or transferring hot oil unless appropriate equipment and safe procedures are used.

Personal Protective Equipment for Burn Hazards

Under 29 CFR 1910.138, OSHA requires employers to select and require employees to use appropriate hand protection when employees' hands are exposed to hazards including thermal burns and harmful temperature extremes.

Depending on the work being performed, appropriate protection may include:

• Heat-resistant gloves
• Oven mitts or pot holders
• Protective aprons or clothing
• Eye or face protection when splash hazards are present
• Appropriate footwear
• Other protective equipment selected for the specific hazard

Employers should select protective equipment based on the task, working conditions, duration of exposure, and the hazards employees may encounter.

Keep Work Areas Around Hot Equipment Safe

Good housekeeping is also important for burn prevention. Spilled liquids, grease, clutter, and other walking-surface hazards can cause employees to slip or fall into hot equipment or spill hot materials.

Employees should promptly address spills, keep walking and working areas clear, and follow workplace procedures for maintaining safe conditions around ovens, fryers, grills, steam equipment, and other heat-producing equipment.

Burn Prevention in Restaurants and Commercial Kitchens

Restaurant and food-service employees can be particularly exposed to burns from hot oil, grease, steam, cooking equipment, hot food, and beverages. Employees should receive appropriate training before using cooking equipment and should understand the hazards associated with the tasks they perform.

OSHA recommends practices such as using appropriate hand protection, opening steam equipment carefully, keeping pot handles away from burners and walking areas, avoiding overfilled pots and pans, keeping water away from hot oil, and wearing appropriate protective clothing and footwear.

Burn Prevention in Industrial Workplaces

Burn hazards are not limited to kitchens. Manufacturing, maintenance, laboratory, utility, and industrial employees may encounter hot equipment, pipes, heated materials, steam, chemicals, or processes capable of causing burns.

Employers should evaluate workplace burn hazards and use appropriate engineering controls, guarding, insulation, safe work practices, employee training, and personal protective equipment based on the hazards present.

What Should Employees Do After a Burn?

Employees should promptly report workplace burn injuries and follow their employer's established first aid and emergency procedures. Serious burns, burns involving sensitive areas, electrical or chemical burns, or injuries accompanied by other serious symptoms may require immediate professional medical attention.

Employees designated to provide first aid should receive appropriate training and should follow current first aid procedures within the scope of their training.

Where Can an Avoiding Burns Poster Be Displayed?

The Avoiding Burns Workplace Safety Poster can help reinforce burn-prevention practices in locations such as:

• Restaurants and commercial kitchens
• Food-service operations
• Manufacturing facilities
• Industrial workplaces
• Maintenance departments
• Healthcare facilities
• School and institutional kitchens
• Hotels and hospitality workplaces
• Employee break and training areas
• Other workplaces with thermal burn hazards

Is a Burn Prevention Poster Required by OSHA?

OSHA requires employers to protect employees from applicable workplace hazards and to provide appropriate personal protective equipment when required. However, this particular Avoiding Burns Workplace Safety Poster is intended as a supplemental employee safety and awareness resource and should not be represented as a universally required OSHA workplace poster.

This poster can help reinforce an employer's burn-prevention program but does not replace workplace hazard assessments, employee training, personal protective equipment, equipment guarding, safe work procedures, first aid preparedness, or other applicable OSHA requirements.

Workplace Safety and Compliance Resources

Labor Law Compliance Center provides employers with labor law posters, workplace safety posters, specialty postings, and compliance resources for businesses throughout the United States. Browse our Workplace Safety Posters for additional burn prevention, kitchen safety, PPE, first aid, emergency response, and employee safety materials.