Working environment and health impacts on Seoul National
University’s dining service kitchen workers

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health

2022

A kitchen worker at Seoul National University is washing a big pot by bending her upper body.

1. Background and methods

The high labor intensity and incidence
of musculoskeletal disorders in school cafeteria workers are well known. In
addition, there have been lung cancer cases approved as occupational diseases among
workers who have worked for a long time in school lunchrooms. The kitchen
workers in the Seoul National University dining room who do the same work have also
suffered from high labor intensity, accidents, and diseases for a long time. In
2019, demanding improvement of the poor working conditions and environment, the
Seoul National University branch of the National University Labor Union went on
strike and spoke out to the University and society.

Although there have been attempts to
improve the working environment, improvements such as hiring additional staff
have been slow, and the cafeteria environment is still dangerous. Because of
this, Seoul National University workers are continuing hard labor without
sufficient rest in a dangerous cafeteria where accidents can happen anytime.
Also, due to the long-standing burdensome work, they are in poor health.
Accordingly, this study was conducted for identifying structural and
environmental causes that increase workers’ labor intensity and collecting data
that can be used to improve working conditions.

2. Survey results

Seoul National University kitchen
workers are mostly in their 50s and female. Among 84 people, 65.9% were in
their 50s, and women accounted for 76.2% of the total. For working hours, they
were going to and from work at different times every week. Workers who work
different hours each week accounted for 41.5% of the total. Each restaurant
operates in 4 or 5 time zones, up to 9 time zones, and the numbers of workers assigned
to each time zone is uneven, mainly concentrating on lunch hours. Although they
go to work at different times every week, they receive notice of their schedule
a day before (36.6%) or a few days before (14.6%). This means the workers had
very low autonomy in the use of time.

We investigated the harmful environment
workers were exposed to. More than 90% of the respondents (91.5%) answered that
they were almost always in a standing position. This answer shows the
characteristics of cafeteria workers who have no time to sit down. Nearly 44%  of respondents (43.9%) answered that they were
almost always exposed to noise, and 39.1% answered that they were often exposed
to noise, confirming that they suffer from noise during working hours. The
answer that they almost always work on slippery floors came out as high as
46.3% and 30.5% said they were frequently exposed to slippery floors. Nearly
half of the respondents (48.8%) answered that they were almost always exposed
to uncomfortable working postures and 35.4% said they were frequently exposed,
confirming the harmful environmental factors experienced by workers.

Musculoskeletal symptoms by body part
were investigated according to the NIOSH questionnaire. Eighty-one percent of
the subjects had symptoms, 78.6% needed management, and 40.5% had suspected
diseases. This is probably because they frequently overuse their shoulders when
they cut ingredients, carry food for distribution, and carry heavy rice cookers
that puts strain on their back and upper body. Nearly 80% of the respondents (78.6%)
said their work intensity was at the level of walking fast or running 100m,
which seems to be because they are doing heavy work at a fast pace. Also, when
asked what level of labor intensity is appropriate compared to now, the average
answer was 61.1% of the current labor intensity.

There were very few positive responses when
asked if they applied for workers’ compensation in the event of an accident or
disease, even though they were frequently hurt while working in a
high-intensity and dangerous environment. More than one-fourth of the
respondents (26.9%) answered that they had received hospital treatment due to
an accident, but 75% of them said they paid for the cost themselves, revealing
the reality that they do not use the public compensation system. Nearly
three-fourths of the respondents (74.4%) said they received hospital treatment
for musculoskeletal disorders, and 98.4% of them answered that they paid for
the treatment out-of-pocket. Special management is needed to address
musculoskeletal disorders.

3. In-depth interview results

We interviewed a total of 8 workers who
had experience working in a kitchen at Seoul National University for 3 to 22
years. We asked about the labor intensity, working environment, and working
conditions that workers perceive. We tried to find future alternatives by asking
about the factors intensifying labor and damaging health. What stood out in the
interviews was that there was no time to rest because they had to finish
cooking and washing dishes at a fixed time. In addition to having to stand and
work throughout the working hours, the factor that made workers feel
particularly fatigued was the lack of personnel. Recently, the labor force has continued
to decrease as workers who were hired as contract workers with a 2-year term resigned
because they were not converted to full-time positions. Due to the constant
lack of personnel, even if new workers came in, it was difficult to secure
enough time to train them, making it difficult for them to adapt. As a result, new
workers quickly quit, resulting in a vicious cycle of personnel problems.

From the interviews, it was confirmed
that workers regard accidents and diseases as inevitable while working. There
was a low level of awareness that if you are injured and sick at work, you can
recover after applying for workers’ compensation, receiving treatment, and
receiving compensation. It seems urgent to implement safety and health-related
education, such as the right to workers’ health, prevention of musculoskeletal
disorders, and work-related accidents, and how to submit a workers’
compensation claim.

The workers answered that they do hard
labor, but the wage level is significantly lower than their expectations. In
addition, the times for breaks and meals are short and there is a lack of sufficient
break room space. This did not alleviate worker fatigue but rather increased
worker fatigue along with high labor intensity.

4. Field investigation results

A field investigation was conducted at
four restaurants on May 25 and June 8, 2021. We observed that pretreatment,
dishwashing, and cooking were carried out at the same time. Also, most workers
were in charge of multiple tasks. In the case of some restaurants, there were
assignments between workers who did dishes and food distribution and workers
who did cooking, but it was not completely divided. The fast pace of work was
also a characteristic of the kitchens at Seoul National University. As soon as
they come to work, they had to work quickly without a break. Under the pressure
of having to complete the work within that time due to the set meal
distribution time, they were enduring high labor intensity while simultaneously
repeating various tasks such as pre-processing, cooking, cleaning, serving
food, and washing.

The musculoskeletal risks including repeated
uncomfortable postures, prolonged standing postures, and handling of heavy
objects. These were observed during pretreatment, cleaning, dishwashing, and
food distribution. In addition, the lack of rest and meal time and difficulty
in using the break room and bathroom were factors that intensified the physical
and mental burden and damage.

The kitchen environment was also found
to be harmful and dangerous. There is a high risk of slipping on floors where
moisture is always present, and there is a high risk of exposure to harmful
substances such as cooking fumes because they are located underground or do not
have proper ventilation facilities. Harmful chemicals such as cleaning solvents
and detergents used during washing or cleaning were also a factor that
threatened workers’ health. However, when using the substances, personal
protection equipment was not properly provided.

5. Conclusions and Suggestions

This study found that the most urgent
problem was the lack of personnel. In school kitchens, there is a fixed serving
time, so work is done at a fast pace. However, due to the lack of personnel,
workers have to endure heavy labor. It seems necessary to have enough people at
work during the entire working hours, rather than dividing and distributing
personnel over multiple working hours as it is now. Even if it is not possible
to take several breaks due to the nature of the work, the pace of work should
be changed appropriately. It is necessary to reduce the weight of heavy objects
that burden the musculoskeletal systems of workers, and to modernize the
working environment of the old cafeteria.

It is not natural for workers to get
sick and injured at work, and it is their right to work in good health. Now is
the time for labor unions to start safety and health activities together with
their members to change the workplace. Safety and health education hours need
to be secured on a paid basis, labor unions should appoint a person in charge
of worker safety and health activities, and union members should start
activities such as participatory research or regular inspections for safety and
health. A safe workplace can be created by union members’ voluntary
participation who know the work best.