Cooking processes and occupational accidents in commercial restaurant kitchens

• In order to obtain an overall picture of cooking, accident analysis was carried out.
• Results show the differences in the characteristics of accidents by cooking process.
• A risk assessment was derived to classify the possible incidents according to the levels of risk.
• Results can be used as baseline data for the establishment of systematical preventative policies.

This study is concerned with the cooking processes in commercial restaurant kitchens and the characteristics of occupational injuries according to cooking processes. In order to obtain an overall picture of cooking, questionnaire survey was carried out. Furthermore accident data for injured persons were categorized by the cooking processes in progress during the accident, and were analyzed in terms of age of injured person, work experience, accident type, and agency of accident. Survey results of questionnaire show that heated cooking constitutes the largest part, followed by non-heated cooking, and preparation. Also results show that the cooking process in time of the accidents resulted in differences of, such as, type of accident, period of work experience, and agency of accident; (1) Accidents during preparation were caused mainly by machine and tools (86.7%), and most victims were injured in the forms of getting caught in and between objects (45.7%) or with cuts, amputations and punctures (43.9%); (2) Cooking utensils and caldron were behind 55.4% of the accidents, and 73.3% of the accidents during heated cooking processes revealed problems with abnormal temperature; (3) Accident during handling/storing ingredients and serving were most commonly in the forms of slips and falls. Finally, a hazard identification and risk assessment table of kitchen works was derived to classify the possible incidents according to the levels of risk. These findings of accident properties according to cooking process can be used as baseline data for the establishment of systematical preventative policies.