Assessing occupational health and safety practices among kitchen staff of selected senior high schools in the Ho Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

The absence of occupational health and safety practices as well as hygiene system in the kitchens of senior high schools contributes to the low-quality food served to students at some Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana. This study assessed occupational health and safety (OHS) practices among kitchen staff of selected SHS in the Ho Municipality. Data for the study was obtained from interviews with respondents and field observations. The results revealed that kitchen staff are exposed to different kinds of hazards such as safety hazards, biological hazards, physical hazards, ergonomic hazards and psychological hazards. It was also found that OHS practices in the kitchens were non-existent. Furthermore, the study identified physical, logistics, managerial, and training challenges associated with compliance to occupational health and safety practices in these schools. The study therefore concludes that inadequate OHS practices has negative implications on the food quality served to students in schools.

Keywords

• Food quality
• safety practices
• hazards
• food safety
• schools
• Nutrition