#SafetyTips #WalkInFreezerAccidents #PreventionTips
🚨 Did you know that in the USA, 60 people die from walk-in freezer accidents every year? This shocking statistic highlights the importance of prioritizing safety measures when working with walk-in freezers. Whether you work in a restaurant, grocery store, or other facility that uses walk-in freezers, it’s crucial to be aware of the risks and take steps to prevent accidents.
In this article, we’ll discuss the common causes of walk-in freezer accidents, provide safety tips to prevent them, and offer guidance on what to do in case of an emergency. By following these tips, you can protect yourself and others from harm while working with walk-in freezers.
## Common Causes of Walk-in Freezer Accidents
– Slip and fall accidents due to wet floors or ice build-up
– Getting trapped inside the freezer due to faulty door locks or equipment malfunction
– Exposure to hazardous chemicals or gases used in refrigeration systems
– Overexertion while moving heavy items in and out of the freezer
– Lack of proper training on safe handling procedures and emergency protocols
## Safety Tips to Prevent Walk-in Freezer Accidents
1. Keep floors dry and free of ice buildup by regularly mopping and using non-slip mats.
2. Ensure that door locks are in good working condition and can be opened from the inside at all times.
3. Familiarize yourself with the location of emergency exits and alarms in case of a freezer malfunction.
4. Wear appropriate clothing and footwear with good traction to prevent slips and falls.
5. Use caution when handling heavy items and always use proper lifting techniques to avoid injuries.
6. Regularly inspect and maintain the freezer equipment to prevent malfunctions and leaks.
7. Provide training to employees on safe handling practices, emergency procedures, and proper use of equipment.
## What to Do in Case of an Emergency
– If someone is trapped inside the freezer, call for help immediately and do not attempt to open the door from the outside.
– Use emergency alarms or communication systems to alert others of the situation.
– Follow established emergency protocols for evacuating the area safely.
– Administer first aid if necessary while waiting for emergency responders to arrive.
In conclusion, walk-in freezer accidents can be prevented by following safety tips, staying vigilant, and being prepared for emergencies. By implementing these practices in your workplace, you can protect yourself and others from harm and ensure a safe working environment. Remember, safety should always be a top priority when working with walk-in freezers.
>Her family says the plunger, which is designed to open the freezer door from the inside, did not work, and the backup emergency button had been disconnected.
Double failure. How sad.
I’ve been in a lot of those things in various places i’ve worked, and they all have had handles on the inside. The only ones that even locked have been outside, and required a padlock so it’s not like you could accidentally lock yourself in.
I don’t know if they are using 80 year old freezers or what, but 60 a year seems suspicious.
Best just to leave a Canada Goose parka and some candles/matches inside the freezer for emergencies.
They should start making walk-out freezers so this stops happening.
I used to work at a hotel a few years ago, and we had this younger woman come and start working for us at the front desk.
Over the first few weeks, we realized that she might have some sort of drinking problem, but largely just ignored it as long as she got her work done. Until one day, she took a bunch of Xanax along with her morning beers and literally passed out in our freezer until someone found her and called an ambulance.
She was obviously fired, but she never seemed to grasp just how dangerous what she did was. Our restaurant and bar wasn’t even open that day because I lived in a dry county and it was Sunday, so she’s lucky anyone found her at all. If someone hadn’t decided to do inventory on an off day, she could have died. And the breathing suppression from the benzos couldn’t have helped anything.
I’ve been in those walk in freezers before and I’ve always been scared that exactly that would happen to me.
To prevent that, anytime I had to go into one, I’ve always let at least 2 different people know that I was going in there and that if they didn’t see me in an hour to come and checkup on me.
Luckily I never got stuck in one but I always made sure to do the above
Shouldn’t all walk in freezers just have like a -30° sleeping bag inside. That should fix the issue.
All of my knowledge of the food service industry comes from watching the Bear so I can confirm that these accidents do happen.
It seems weird that walk in freezers aren’t considered confined spaces. Like you can bodily enter, have limited entry and egress options, and it is not designed for continuous human habitation.
When I worked at baskin robins that freezer door would stick like a motherfucker. Sometimes you had to spartan kick the little plunger knob in to get out.
I remember accidentally locking myself in one when I was 18 at my first job. This was before text was really a thing so I was panicking hard trying to figure out how to open it because no one had taught me how to use the door correctly. Thankfully I figured it out, but that was a scary 5 minutes.
Yet Lara Croft’s butler always seemed to survive
No longer work in a place with a freezer as of a week ago but I’ve been trapped in a freezer, not long but long enough to fear for my life. Nobody teaches you how to get out and some of the freezers I’ve worked in have lights that automatically shut off when the door is closed. People wonder why I yelled when I came out. 100% of the time that it happened to me it was because some negligent individual came in after me and didn’t stop to check before they shut the door. Freezer etiquette is extremely important.
I was taught to always place something substantial in the jamb to prevent the door from closing all the way before entering a walk in freezer.
Yikes!
The walk-in at my job is actually two: first a cooler, then another door that leads to a small freezer.
There is a glow-in-the-dark plastic thing next to each door that can be turned to override the lock, but if there’s something blocking the door then that’s only partially effective.
Damn that’s higher than I’d expect, my tip as a dude that fixes walk ins is if you’re ever trapped in one turn the fans off so it gets warmer in there.. there’s usually a switch by the fans somewhere.
We had a biologist that got trapped in a cold room at the pharma I worked at. She was trapped for several hours before someone found her. She ended up going into hypothermia and had to go on permanent disability from the injury.
My first job was working at a college cafeteria. The main freezer was inside the walkin in fridge, which was usually full of speed racks of food. An older woman who worked there was in the freezer and had a stack of frozen product fall on her pinning her and breaking her arm. To top it off, a chef unknowingly placed a speed rack blocking the door of the freezer. It was almost 6 hours, during management’s final walk through before closing, she was found. She was in bad shape and out of work for awhile. Don’t know the specifics of what happened to her, but left an impression on me at 17 years old. Now 15 years later as a chef/management myself I always make sure coworkers know when I go to the freezer and double check all the coolers before leaving.
Worked in lab freezers for years. If the door ever did not open there’s a thermometer inside that you put your mouth on and the alarm will go off.
I worked in Frozen for 5 years. Our freezer temp was -10. 1x a week, I worked in there for 6 hours at a time. This door slid (left to right) open and closed. No locks. I got yelled at every time I got caught working in there with the door ajar 3″. Cell phones didn’t work in there. The sliding track wasn’t in the best shape and I was paranoid of the door getting stuck while I was inside.
I’ve called OHSA on one before that had the inside handle completely broken with no way to unlock it from the inside. “I don’t think we cover that” was their answer.
This should have gotten WAY MORE COVERAGE and gotten Arby’s boycotted. It’s a horror movie. I don’t know how in the world they could deny wrongdoing when she GOT LOCKED IN THE FREEZER.
ARe they going to say she killed herself like the other company did to a guy who got caught in some terrible burning deathtrap in a factory a few years ago, even though he tried to smash his way out with an axe.
hvac maintenance here: if you are trapped in a walk in cooler the first thing you’ll want to do is find something thin to stick in the fan blades so they stop turning. This will overheat the compressor (outside) and the cooler will stop cooling. If there is a temperature alarm it will sound and you’ll likely attract some attention.
FYI the doors and walls of a walk-in cooler are very thin metal with insulation inside. It does not take a lot of force to bust through.
There’s a good Indian film, Mili, which explores this exact thing. A girl works for a fast food chain, finishes work and then gets locked in the freezer. The search overnight is intense and her battling for survival is thrilling. Highly recommended.
I got stuck in our walk-in freezer working at my college campus dining hall once. It was completely detached from our main kitchen, and nobody could hear me yelling. The door had been having some issues before but it had never gotten stuck like that. I tried to stay calm but I was in there for like 10 minutes and the panic really started to set in. Shift leader always checks the freezer before locking up the building but we were still an hour away from closing and I was just in there wearing a cotton shirt and my work pants. Couldn’t get any signal in there to call for help. It sounds silly but I genuinely started writing goodbye letters to my family and friends on my phone. I couldn’t remember if I had told anyone that I was going out to the freezer to begin with.
Door eventually opened after I threw my full body weight against it over and over. I was really shaken by the whole thing. Went back inside to warm up and a couple of old timers (not college students) saw me and laughed. Asked if I had gotten stuck in the freezer. I said yes, and they laughed again. I didn’t give them much of a response because they would just make fun of me more but I really didn’t find it all that funny.
I used the be the general manager at a Pizza Hut. The indoor handle on the walk in freezer didn’t work great and would sometimes take allot of strength to get open. I was concerned and let my “area coach” know multiple times but he didn’t care. Then one day a teenage girl got stuck in there for almost 5 minutes. No harm done because someone else went in and found her, but I chewed my boss out and told him I warned of this happening and it was dangerous. He finally sent the maintnence guy out who sprayed a little de-icer into the handle and called it a day. I quit that job not long after because I was working 80 hours a week for barely any pay. The next manager after was literally worked to death. Some poor girl in her 30s was so tired after one of those long shifts she crashed her car and died on her way home late at night.
Employers in America literally just don’t care and don’t have any incentives to change.