WASHINGTON, DC — Occupational injuries at eating-and-drinking places are at their lowest level in nearly 30 years, according to the National Restaurant Association analysis of newly released government data.
The findings bolster the association’s view that restaurants are succeeding in making their establishments safe and productive workplaces for employees, further questioning the government’s implementation of a one-size-fits-all set of bureaucratic safety regulations for workplaces.
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“Restaurants are working hard to ensure that employees have a safe and productive workplace, and their efforts are yielding tremendous results with on-the-job accidents steadily declining in the 1990s. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, restaurant work sites are at their safest level in almost three decades, said Association President and Chief Executive Officer Steven C. Anderson. “As the largest private-sector employer in the country, the restaurant industry prides itself in offering a multitude of training programs to provide a safe working environment for the 11.3 million restaurant and foodservice workers in the United States.”
The analysis of the recently released 1999 data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics found that non-fatal accidents in restaurants totaled 5.5 incidents per 100 full-time equivalent employees — down from 6.2 in 1998. This rate is well below the average for other comparable industries, such as air transportation (13.9), nursing and personal-care facilities (13.2), and motor vehicles and equipment (12.2). The restaurant industry data is the lowest on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting this information in the early 1970s.
Anderson said the association’s efforts, such as the Workplace Safety Program, underscore its commitment to reducing on-the-job accidents.
“We remain steadfast in our opposition to OSHA’s decision to impose costly and bureaucratic workplace regulations that will negatively impact not only the nation’s restaurants but virtually every business and job in the nation,” he said.
