Health risks of being a chef and its effects on chefs and the restaurant business

Abstract

The aim of the research was to find out the prevalence of stress and musculoskeletal diseases namely back pain, neck pain and leg pain of cooks in restaurant kitchens. The reasons for the health problems, their manifestation and their effects on cooks as well as restaurant business were also examined in the study. The study was conducted in a la carte restaurants that are located in Vaasa city centre. Quantitative method was chosen with the distribution of two sets of questionnaires; one for cooks and the other for restaurant owners/ managers. There are total 27 respondents for the survey for cooks and four respondents for the survey or restaurant owners/ managers. With regard to the survey for cooks, stress and multiple site pains occur often among the group of respondents. The health problems, however, are not severe in general and do not affect their work and daily activities too much. Abundant amount of work is considered as the biggest cause of stress while the laborious nd physically demanding work in the kitchen is the main reason for musculoskeletal pains for the respondents. With regard to the survey for restaurant owners, cooks' health problems are of little or no effect on their business profit. Cooks' sick leaves and leaves due to stress or physical pains are not the norm. No restaurants in the study have a separate budget for cooks' leaves and sick leaves.