Kitchen Safety in Hospitals Practices and Knowledge of Food Handlers in Istanbul, Turkey

• Published in: AAOHN journal Vol. 62; no. 10; pp. 415 - 420
• Main Authors: Ercan, Aydan, Kiziltan, Gul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2014; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Accident prevention; Adult; Catering; Costs; Dietitians; Education; Female; Food; Food Handling; Food Safety; Food Service, Hospital; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hospitals; Humans; Injuries; Kitchens; Knowledge; Male; Marital status; Middle Aged; Nursing; Occupational accidents; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Questionnaires; Safety management; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Turkey; Work environment; Workers; Young Adult; Istanbul Turkey; Turkey
• ISSN: 2165-0799; 2165-0969
• DOI: 10.3928/21650799-20140902-03

This study was designed to identify the practices and knowledge of food handlers about workplace safety in hospital kitchens (four on-premises and eight off-premises) in Istanbul. A kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire was administered and a kitchen safety checklist was completed by dietitians. The mean total scores of the on-premise and off-premise hospital kitchens were 32.7 ± 8.73 and 37.0 ± 9.87, respectively. The mean scores for the items about machinery tools, electricity, gas, and fire were lower in off-premise than on-premise hospital kitchen workers. The kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire had five subsections; 43.7% of the food handlers achieved a perfect score. Significant differences were found in the knowledge of food handlers working in both settings about preventing slips and falls (p < .05). Significant relationships were found between marital status, education level, and kitchen safety knowledge of the food handlers (p < .05).