Prevention of Heat Stroke in Restaurant Kitchens

The environment of a kitchen is often hot and humid due to the nature of various cooking activities like frying and steaming. This situation can worsen on summer days. Kitchen workers performing intensive manual work in a hot and humid environment are at risk of heat stroke if appropriate preventive measures are not taken. The following are some common work situations with a higher risk of heat stroke and call for extra precautions.

• Wok stirring - In Chinese restaurants, cooks stand close to the stove when they stir-fry food in a wok. They are exposed to an enormous amount of heat from the stove burners and the hot cooking fumes. The heat stress they endure will be even greater when a lot of food has to be fried on an intense flame during peak dining hours.
• Meat roasting - Roasting is a common activity in kitchens where roasted meat such as Siu Mei are produced. Barbecue cooks have to work close to charcoal or town-gas furnaces for a long period and are thus at high risk of heat stroke.
• Dim Sum steaming - During the preparation of Dim Sum in Chinese restaurants, cooks steam piles of Dim Sum simultaneously. This process releases a large amount of heat and water vapour into the surrounding atmosphere. Working in this hot and humid work environment gives rise to a high risk of heat stroke.
• Dish Cleaning - Some cleaning workers clean dishes and utensils in segregated areas that are constrained and poorly ventilated. In the absence of moving air, the heat stress on workers increases. In some cases where dish washing machines are used, a large amount of hot water vapour is emitted into the work environment. This can worsen the situation, increasing the heat stress.

Duties of employers under the health and safety laws

Under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, employers are required to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their employees. Duties include, among other things, the provision and maintenance of a work environment for their employees at the industrial undertaking that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, and without risks to health.

To ensure adequate protection of workers from heat stroke, employers should arrange for a suitable assessment of heat stress in the work environment and take appropriate preventive measures.

Purpose of heat stress assessment

In simple terms, a heat stress assessment is a systematic evaluation of the thermal conditions in the work environment. It serves to:

• identify potential hazards from work activity under the thermal conditions of the workplace, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke;
  
• decide who may be harmed; and
  
• evaluate the risks and decide whether improvement measures are needed to protect workers.

How to conduct a heat stress assessment

Heat stress assessments for most kitchen work can be conducted simply with a checklist. One can learn more about the use of a checklist by reading the publication "Risk Assessment for the Prevention of Heat Stroke at Work". This publication has recently been issued by the Labour Department to help responsible persons understand how to conduct a heat stress assessment with a checklist. The publication not only provides a sample checklist and various examples of specific control measures, it also gives an example of a completed checklist for readers' reference.

In complicated cases, or if there is any uncertainty, employers should consider engaging a person with knowledge, experience and competence in heat stress assessment to conduct a detailed and comprehensive risk assessment.

Specific preventive measures in restaurant kitchens

Responsible persons and workers should take out effective preventive measures based on the results of the assessment. The following are some measures which can be deployed in restaurant kitchens:

• provide an effective ventilation system to remove excessive heat, cooking fumes and steam from the kitchen. Canopy exhaust hoods can be installed above the cooking stoves or other heat sources to effectively capture rising hot air;
  
• regularly check and maintain the ventilation system to ensure its proper functioning at all times. Whenever the system is out of order, maintenance services should be called upon immediately to rectify the problem;
  
• provide air conditioning in the kitchen where practicable. If air conditioning cannot be applied to the entire kitchen area, spot cooling at the workers' positions can be considered as an alternative;
  
• increase air flow at the workers' positions with appropriate ventilation equipment such as blowing fans;
  
• segregate cooking activities from other work processes to limit the number of workers exposed to heat;
  
• spread out the heat-generating facilities in the kitchen to avoid excessive concentration of heat in a certain area. For instance, keep the soup boiling stoves away from the charcoal furnace;
  
• workers should wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing made of natural materials, which should not pose any safety concern;
  
• provide adequate supply of cool potable water for workers during work at all times. Workers should be encouraged to take plenty of water;
  
• allow time for acclimatization for those workers not yet accustomed to a hot work environment;
  
• ensure that workers are adequately trained regarding the symptoms of heat stroke, precautionary measures and emergency response actions. Workers should be fully aware of the importance of proper use of ventilation systems at work and the signs of imminent system failure.

For more information about preventive measures against heat stroke, employers and employees can refer either to the aforementioned publication, or to the leaflet, "Prevention of Heat Stroke at Work in a Hot Environment" (PDF), also produced by the Labour Department.