Racist old biddy...

[Mikkel]

I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, which helped protect me from the worst of it.

Clothing can protect you, but remember that, when you are cooling the burn with cold water, the clothing will keep the heat in too.

[Clover]

Really? I didn't know that! I was just grateful that I had something to partially protect me-and I know that I could have easily had a case against that woman and my manager, but at this point they've probably discarded the security footage (they only keep it a month or so if I recall correctly), I don't have the old lady's name or anything, and I don't have any permanent scarring or anything (thank goodness) from the burns, so I really have no proof of what happened anymore. I should have done something about it when it first happened, but I was very timid then (and still am to a certain extent) and didn't want to cause a stir, or lose my job which I really needed at the time.

[Sapphire Silk]

Yes, it healed only a few days afterwards-thankfully they weren't very severe, it happened in the winter so I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, which helped protect me from the worst of it. I don't have any visible scarring or anything left from it, and while I probably could pursue legal action for it, I just don't think it's worth it at this point-I'm not there anymore, from what I've heard the manager who wouldn't let me leave to get some cold water either has been or is very close to being fired for mouthing off to a higher-up, and in general it's just not my problem anymore-but you can be darn sure I'm not letting anyone treat me like that again!

Glad to hear it is doing better. Seshat beat me to it once again on basic first aid for burns

At this point legal action would not be worth pursuing. There are no long term damages, and no documentation of what happened. It would be hard to prove in court.

Any time you are injured at work, no matter what the reason, you should fill out an incident report and keep a copy in case it gets "lost." (Most places won't purposefully misfile incident reports as that makes risk management very unhappy, but some unscrupulous supervisors might, esp if they are at fault).

Insist on immediate first aid--none of this waiting for your break crap.

Insist on medical treatment. It doesn't have to be right away unless it is hampering your ability to work, but it should be later that day . . . within 24 hours at the most. Your employer has to pay the cost through Workman's Compensation--you don't pay a dime. No co pay. Nothing for meds.

In most (but not all states, it varies) you may have to see a company doctor. But if you don't like what he tells you, then you have the right to see your own doctor at that point.

Document, document document!

And of course, if the injury is the result of an assault (whether by a customer or a co worker) insist on the police being called and a report being filed.

[Clover]

I actually knew nothing about the accident reports then-it was my first job, and I had never heard of accident reports or any of that paperwork, no one had ever told me. If I had known I certainly would have filled one out, but I heard nothing of them until I was working with another manager (we had four) and he knocked down a display of candles and I got a small cut when I was cleaning it up, and he asked me if it was bad enough that I thought I should fill out one of those forms, and I had no clue what he was talking about. The militant manager who refused to let me rinse off the burns never told me about the reports or anything. I blame myself, honestly, I should have done the research beforehand and learned what I could do and what my rights were long before I actually NEEDED them.

[XCashier]

It was a lesson learned. If you have any younger siblings / cousins / friends starting in the workforce, it'd be nice to teach them about what you went through and what their rights are so they aren't blindsided like you were. They really should teach this stuff in high school, but of course they don't.

And you weren't the first, nor sadly will you be the last to go through this.

[Andara Bledin]

Clothing can protect you, but remember that, when you are cooling the burn with cold water, the clothing will keep the heat in too.

My clothing worked both for and against me when I spilled a quart of super-hot soup in my lap. The folds and layers kept some parts of me from being burned at all, and made a couple of other bits burn a little more.

It was a lesson learned. If you have any younger siblings / cousins / friends starting in the workforce, it'd be nice to teach them about what you went through and what their rights are so they aren't blindsided like you were. They really should teach this stuff in high school, but of course they don't.

Another thing to consider, even for events that are in the past: It's always a good idea to report mis-management of that sort so that hopefully someone else down the line won't have to go through the same thing.

^-.-^