Williamsport, PA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A restaurant cook took his life on the job late last month by placing his head into a deep fryer, police said.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, the man, a cook at a Williamsport, Pa., Olive Garden, said police and emergency workers were called to the restaurant around 4 p.m. on Jan. 30 concerning an employee removing his clothes and attempting to harm himself. In 911 audio from the Lycoming County Fire and EMS service, a dispatcher said, “I don’t have a lot of details, just a lot of people screaming, some kind of burn victim.”
The dispatcher then added that “a male victim went head first into the fryers.” Another dispatcher later said on the call that the state police were also responding to the scene. After the initial ambulance crew arrived on scene, a second unit was sent to the restaurant to treat a female worker. Officials said the woman, several co-workers and a least one restaurant patron struggled with the male cook in an attempt to stop him from further harm and self-inflicted burns.
The Olive Garden worker was rushed to a local hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. The female employee suffered minor burns.
The state police spokeswoman, Trooper Lauren Lesher, said the incident was a suicide attempt and that the police would not be identifying the victim out of respect for the family and the individual.
Officials at the Olive Garden said the restaurant was closed for a few days after the incident.
A spokesperson for Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, expressed the company’s condolences.
“We are heartbroken by this tragic loss,” the company said in a statement. “Our primary focus is on supporting our team members and the family of our colleague during this incredibly difficult time. We are cooperating fully with local authorities.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an estimated 267 workplace suicides were reported in 2022. The number represented a 13.1 percent increase from the 236 in 2021. Although lower than the 307 reported in 2019, the number represents a significant increase over the 180 cases reported in 2005. Workplace suicides account for between 10 and 13 percent of all suicides and are often linked to unmanaged psychosocial hazards and intense job stress.
Since 2011, according to the BLS, there have been nearly 3,000 work-related suicides reported in the U.S. Officials said this number is probably an under-reporting of the true number of work-related suicides, as those occurring outside of the immediate workplace or outside of normal business hours may not be classified as “work-related.”
The BLS said workers 45 and older account for 56.2 percent of all workplace suicides, and that the transportation and material moving occupations, as well as management occupations, had the highest number of workplace suicides in 2022. Research from the National Safety Council and the National Association for Suicide Prevention indicate that for every suicide fatality, there are many more attempts and that in a company of 1,000 employees, it is likely that one will die by suicide every 10 years, with many more making attempts.
According to a 2021 XpertHR webinar on handling mental health crises in the office, managers and HR professionals can take steps to assist an employee who is exhibiting self-harming behavior.
Managers and other supervisors should consider an employee’s suicide risk a potential safety threat for the employee and others. While threats and warning signs of suicide do not mean the employee will become violent, it’s important to create an emergency action plan to address the situation.
It’s also important to trust your instincts, experts said. Rarely do those at risk of suicide “just snap,” Terri Solomon, co-chair of the Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group, and Marc McElhaney, CEO and director of professional services of Critical Response Associates, said during the webinar. Instead, supervisors should keep an eye out for significant behavioral changes and warning signs like increased alcohol use, lack of motivation, lack of communication, attendance issues, increased aggression or agitations, disheveled appearance or changes in performance, as well as mood shifts like depression, tearfulness and mood swings.
Solomon said not to just send employees home, but to make sure the employee is safe and to let an emergency contact know that there are concerns about the person.
If an emergency situation arises, experts said to call for help and have the employee taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but to make sure to follow up on the employee when they are released.
Above all, Solomon and McElhaney said, it’s important to make a workplace emergency plan that includes suicide risk, and builds suicide awareness and prevention into the company’s emergency response plan.
