Blood Splatters All Over Store When Cold Stone Creamery Employee Loses 3 Fingers on the Job
A horrific accident that left one woman maimed has mushroomed into a major incident involving a Cold Stone Creamery location in Oregon.
According to KOIN, the incident was the catalyst for the manager and two workers at the store to quit, citing workplace safety conditions.
On March 15, Jordyn Martin was wiping down the ice cream machines at the Corvallis location of the chain when the machine pulled the rag and Martin’s right hand into the machine, former store manager Abigail Thomas said.
“There was blood splatter all over the store, including the remnants of the fingers,” Thomas said.
After shutting the store, Thomas got Martin to a nearby hospital.
However, the remnants of her index, middle and ring fingers did not make the trip, so store employee Emily Kilpatrick went back to the store to retrieve them.
“The rag had pulled her hand in, so that rag wrapped around her fingers and pulled her fingers off until there was pummeled bone and blood all inside of the machine,” Kilpatrick said. “The fingers were wrapped in the mangled rag.”
A GoFundMe page set up for Martin by her sister, Kylee Rochefort, said the remains of the fingers were too mangled to reattach.
Thomas, who along with Martin and Kirkpatrick quit over the incident, blamed a lack of safety training for the mishap.
“We were never trained on safety protocols at this Cold Stone. The few times that our bosses came out, they just told us that our stores looked great. We didn’t know that the machine we were using was even capable of doing something like that. We thought it was completely safe to use and to clean, even when running,” Thomas said.
Thomas indicated that she was revolted that her bosses were more concerned with getting the store open than Martin’s injury.
“They didn’t even ask if she was OK first. Their follow-up question was basically: ‘Who are you going to get in to reopen the store?’” Thomas said.
“If the owners handled the situation with our co-worker differently, maybe it would have been different with the employees quitting,” she said.
The former workers also noted they were not pleased with serving customers ice cream from the machine Martin was cleaning.
“They’re still serving ice cream out of the machine after sanitizing it,” Kilpatrick said.
Oregon OSHA spokesman Aaron Corvin said an investigation is under way but said he could not provide details.
Corvin told the Gazette-Times that investigations focus on several key areas.
“Some of the areas addressed in a typical investigation include training and supervision, a review of safety protocols in place and an examination of any equipment involved,” Corvin said.
Kahala Brands Vice President of Public Relations Jessica Benedick, representing Cold Stone’s parent company, said the company is looking into the incident, according to KOIN.
“We are aware of the unfortunate accident that occurred in a Corvallis, Oregon store and are investigating the matter further,” Benedick said.
“We care about the well-being of all employees and are committed to prioritizing workplace safety, as well as supporting all our franchisees in doing the same in the restaurants they own and operate,” she said.
Sean Burt, Martin’s attorney, did not comment beyond saying Martin filed a workers’ compensation claim in response to the injury.
The GoFundMe page set up for Martin by Rochefort, said the injury was “[d]ue to the unsafe work conditions of her work place.”
“Unfortunately, this is going to take some time, but she can’t work, and this was her dominant hand. She still has bills to pay and car payments to make that don’t stop just because she lost her fingers.”
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