• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.1594-1606
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine safety accidents related to school foodservice, working and operating environments of school foodservice, status and awareness of safety education, educational needs, and information on qualitative improvement of school foodservice. The subjects in this study were 234 cooks in charge of cooking at elementary and secondary schools in Chungbuk. A survey was conducted from July 30 to August 8, 2012, and among 202 questionnaires gathered, 194 completed questionnaires were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed on data utilizing the SPSS version 19.0. The main results of this study were as follows: 44.3% of workers experienced safety accidents. The most frequent safety accident was 'once' (60.5%), and most safety accidents took place between June and August (31.4%). The time at which most safety accidents happened was between 8 and 11 am. Most safety accidents happened during cooking (52.3%) and while using a soup pot or frying pot (52.4%). The most common accidents were 'burns', 'wrist and arm pain', and 'slips and falls'. Respondents who experienced safety accidents replied that 57.6% of employees dealt with injuries at their own expense, and only 35.3% utilized industrial accident insurance. In terms of the operating environment, the score for 'offering information and application' was highest (3.76 points), whereas that for 'security of budget' was lowest (1.77 points). As for accident education, employees received safety education approximately 3.45 times and 5.10 hours per year. Improving the working environment of school foodservice cooks requires administrative and financial support. Furthermore, educational materials and guidelines based on the working environment and safety accident status of school foodservice cooks are required in order to minimize potential risk factors and control safety accidents in school foodservice.