BARISTAS SPILL THE BEANS
Coffee-shop owners, workers hope to decrease the number of painful burns, scalds on the job
Being burned by a large carafe of freshly brewed, 180-degree-Celsius coffee was the worst pain Tamara Stanners had ever felt.
“I’ve had three babies and so I know what pain is — but it was nothing like that,” Stanners said of the “fluke accident” that happened years ago at her coffee shop in Brackendale.
The searing liquid splashed down the front of her thighs, fused her skin to her jeans, and left her with secondand third-degree burns that took a month to heal.
However, countless burns and scalds experienced by coffee shop staffers aren’t flukes — many are preventable and are a result of carelessness, lack of training or poor space management.
“No one has to be burned,” Stanners said.
“If things are handled properly, it doesn’t have to happen.”
It’s a small but perhaps growing risk, as coffee shops and cafés continue to open on the caffeine-loving West Coast.
In Vancouver, about 200 business licences have been issued to coffee shops, and countless more restaurants and other establishments that serve hot liquids.
According to WorkSafe B.C., eight claims were accepted in 2010 from baristas forced to miss work because of serious injuries.
In 2011, that number more than doubled to 20 claims.
The number dipped to 17 in 2012 and 16 in 2013, and then again spiked to 25 in 2014.
And those numbers don’t reflect the much larger group of baristas who likely suffer smaller scalds and burns and don’t file claims.
While it’s hard to put those numbers in context — WorkSafe B.C. doesn’t monitor barista employment levels — the risk and the expectations of safety remain the same.
“We expect all employers of baristas to provide the appropriate supervision, training and education to keep these workers safe and healthy while on the job,” said WorkSafe B.C. spokeswoman Trish Knight Chernecki.
Stanners, now a radio program director, was filling a commercialsized carafe in 2004 when it tipped and spilled coffee down her legs. In her panic, Stanners tore her jeans off, only to cause further damage.
“My skin had melted to my pockets, where the seams were,” she said of the “excruciating” experience that left her wrapped in bandages for a month.
She has regained feeling in her thighs, but is left with some scars and skin discoloration.
Neil Turner, 29, has never suffered anything major in his four years as a barista, but he knows it can happen easily. At a shop where he used to work, Turner was washing his hands when a co-worker absent-mindedly dumped a jug of boiling water into the same sink.
“Accidents happen when people are careless,” Turner said. “Most of the time, when everyone’s focused, there’s no need for burns or injuries to happen.”
Turner said because most espresso machines have pre-programmed temperature setting, in most coffee shops there should never be a liquid so hot that it could cause severe injuries. “I’ve worked in places before where they haven’t really known how to make coffee the right way, so the water’s way hotter than it should be and the milk is steamed until it scorches,” he said.
Fellow barista Nick Neugebauer, 28, said that when customers request their drinks be made at a higher temperature than normal, baristas are often reluctant to comply.
“If that spills on you, the hot fats in the milk are going to stick to you like oil,” he cautioned.
Both men work at the newly opened Moja Coffee at 1102 Commercial Drive.
The 1,800-square-foot shop is large and spacious — more so than many other cafés — with the wraparound counter sectioning off nearly a third of the shop’s open space for those working behind the coffee bar.
Turner noted Moja’s setup allows for staffers to navigate, with enough counter space for each barista.
“In some places I’ve worked before, there’s three people crammed into a small space — someone’s reaching behind your back to grab something, you know, everyone’s bumping into each other — and that’s when hot coffee accidents happen,” he said.
Co-owner Doug Finley said he sought a balance in comfort for both customers and employees, while ensuring the safety of his staff.
Finley noted that many cafés may start up with second-hand equipment bought at auctions and other places, which means some shops might have several pieces of equipment that aren’t suited to the limited space available.
“Not everyone can open up with brand new equipment and lay it out properly, I get that, but sometimes people tend to put too much in,” he said.
“Clutter generally leads to safety issues.”
Erik Vogel, a director with the B.C. Burn Fund, fears there are baristas who suffer burns on the job, but feel pressure to return to work without adequately treating their injuries.
Vogel said prevention starts with educating those most at risk, such as students who work part time.
“You see a fire and you say, ‘Yeah, that’s dangerous,’ ” Vogel noted. “But you see a cup of hot coffee, you don’t always see the danger.”