Busan Office of Education Promotes Respiratory Health Protection Policy for School Meal Workers

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education is implementing a respiratory health protection policy based on lung cancer health screenings for school meal workers.

On the 15th, Busan Office of Education announced that it feels the seriousness of respiratory diseases among meal workers and the need to improve kitchen environments, following the Ministry of Education's announcement of lung cancer health screening results for school meal workers, and will proactively promote respiratory health protection policies for school meal workers.

Based on the interim results of health screenings conducted last year for school meal workers, the Office of Education is proactively implementing ▲lung disease prevention projects for meal workers and ▲kitchen environment improvement projects.

To prevent lung diseases among meal workers, starting this year, the target for special health screenings has been expanded from the previous Ministry of Employment and Labor criteria of workers with 10 years of service or aged 55 and above to all meal workers with more than 1 year of service. Additionally, regardless of the screening period, a second screening fee is being supported for those diagnosed with ‘borderline nodules’ or higher who require follow-up observation of screening results.

For those with abnormal findings such as ‘suspected lung cancer’ in the special health screening results, additional screening costs of up to 1 million KRW per person are also supported, and health promotion programs involving occupational health physicians and industrial safety and health consulting are being prioritized for schools where individuals with abnormal findings work.

Busan Office of Education.

Busan Office of Education will gradually replace ventilation facilities at 195 schools urgently needing improvement by 2027, according to the ‘Five-Year Plan for Modernization of School Meal Facilities’ applying the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ‘Guidelines for Installation of Ventilation Equipment in School Meal Kitchens.’

For 372 schools where the meal facility modernization has not been applied, approximately 110 billion KRW will be invested by 2026 to improve ventilation facilities annually, following the ‘Four-Year Plan for Ventilation Equipment Improvement’ reflecting the results of the ‘Technical Service for Improvement of School Meal Kitchen Ventilation Facilities.’

Furthermore, the cooking environment in meal facilities will be improved by gradually replacing cooking equipment with electric devices such as induction cookers and electric ovens, and by developing and distributing oven cooking recipes to minimize cooking fumes.

Ha Yun-su, Superintendent of Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “We have realized the seriousness of respiratory health among meal workers,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure that school meal workers can work in a safe and comfortable environment.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.