초록
Objective: The purposes of this study are to survey and compare laws and industrial standards related to safety criteria for commercial kitchen equipment of Korea, Japan and EU/UK. Background: Accidents in service industry including food industry account for about 33% of total accidents in 2015, Korea, the trend of which has increased. Works in commercial kitchens have several risk factors such as overexertion, slip, heat, burn or explosion by gas and electrical cooking equipment, etc. For reducing accidents in commercial kitchens, laws and industrial standards related to safety criteria are needed. Method: This study was performed by the following three methods: 1) Direct and telephone interviews with kitchen equipment manufacturing companies, food service facility nutritionist/health managers, and related researchers; 2) Surveys of kitchen equipment relevant literature; and 3) Surfing web sites related to safety and health of Korea, Japan and EU/UK. Results: The results showed that while EU and UK provide safety and health relevant directives or laws by product family, respectively, Korea and Japan do the laws by risk factors of kitchen equipment. EU's directives and UK's relevant laws regulate essential health and safety requirements for product family, and require that an item of work equipment should have been designed and constructed in compliance with any essential requirements. In Korea and Japan, some laws prescribe safety and health criteria for two or more kitchen equipment, and the criteria for a certain equipment were regulated in two or more laws. Industrial standards and design guidelines for kitchen equipment were also surveyed and summarized. Conclusion: Safety and health relevant laws and standards of Korea, Japan and EU/UK for commercial kitchen equipment were investigated and compared. Application: It would be useful as basic guidelines for establishing policies for safer and healthier environment in commercial kitchens.