Heat stress risk among New York City public school kitchen workers: a quantitative exposure assessment

Abstract

Despite the known human health risks associated with excessive heat exposure, particularly in occupational settings, data describing potential heat exposures in school kitchens is scarce, and no published studies to date have performed a quantitative heat exposure assessment for workers employed in this setting. The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent of heat stress in New York City public school kitchens and to assess potential risk of heat-related illness and/or acute injury. Full-shift indoor Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) indices, as well as indoor CO₂ and CO concentrations were measured for ten school kitchens. A quantitative exposure assessment for three metabolic work-rate scenarios (light, moderate, heavy) was performed in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Heat Hazard Assessment methodology. The overall mean indoor WBGT index for all ten sites was approximately 25.0 °C (77.0 °F; Standard Deviation [SD] = 2.0 °C). Regarding the estimated Action Limit, 10% of school kitchens sampled exceeded this recommended limit for the light work-rate scenario; 60% of schools exceeded this limit for the moderate work-rate scenario; and 80% of schools exceeded this limit for the heavy work-rate scenario. For the Threshold Limit Value (TLV), none of the kitchens exceeded this limit for the light or moderate work-rate scenarios; 30% of kitchens were in excess of this limit for the heavy work-rate scenario. Mean full-shift CO₂ and CO air concentrations ranged from 435–911 ppm (mean = 648; SD = 158) and 0.0–3.2 ppm (mean = 0.9; SD = 0.9), respectively. The data collected in the current study suggest that kitchen staff employed in New York City public schools may be exposed to excessive indoor heat levels. Adequate work-rest schedules should be implemented for kitchen workers, in addition to other feasible engineering and administrative controls to mitigate potential risk of heat-related illness and/or acute injury.

Keywords:

• Chef
• cook
• heat-related illness
• heat-related injury
• thermal stress

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank and acknowledge the union Health and Safety Department staff, the union representatives, the kitchen staff (union members), and other staff members at each of the schools for coordinating the site visits and accommodating the sampling program throughout the summer. The authors would also like to thank Ilias Kavouras, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy for providing helpful feedback on the draft manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The authors further acknowledge the New York-New Jersey Education and Research Center, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Grant #T42 OH008422.