Risk Factors for Frequent Work-related Burn and Cut Injuries and Low Back Pain Among Commercial Kitchen Workers in Japan

This study investigated risk factors for frequent work-related burn and cut injuries and low back pain (LBP) among kitchen workers including personal, work-related and environmental factors. Subjects were 991 kitchen workers in 103 schools, 17 hospitals and nursing homes, and 6 restaurants in central Japan. A cross-sectional survey was carried out using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between frequent injuries/LBP and risk factors. The effective response rate was 75.1% (n=744), the mean age was 40.7 (SD 11.7) and 77.2% were female. Burn injury was associated with a smaller kitchen (OR 1.94; 95%CI, 1.13-3.33), and gas kitchens rather than electric kitchens (OR 2.30; 95%CI, 1.17-4.52). LBP was associated with female gender (OR 2.46; 95%CI, 1.37-4.43), high body height (>160 cm) (OR 2.03; 95%CI, 1.22-3.36), and large number of meals produced per person (≥ 150 meals) (OR 1.83; 95%CI, 1.12-3.00). The results of this study suggest that securing adequate work space and introducing electric kitchen systems may reduce the risk to kitchen workers, as well as the importance of adequate height of cooking equipment and selecting an appropriate volume of meals to produce per person to prevent LBP in kitchen workers.