Who Is Responsible for School Cafeteria Safety? Ongoing Conflict Between Gyeongnam Office of Education and Nutrition Teachers

As conflicts between the Gyeongnam Office of Education and nutrition teachers over school site safety and health management continue, the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has proposed holding a related forum.

On the 29th, the Gyeongnam branch of KCTU held a press conference at the provincial Office of Education press room, urging ▲ review of deficiencies in the Office of Education’s safety and health management regulations ▲ establishment of a safety and health management system ▲ holding and participation in a forum.

The Minnochoeng Gyeongnam Headquarters held a press conference at the Gyeongnam Office of Education press room, proposing the establishment of a safety and health management system and the hosting of a related forum.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

They stated, “There are numerous workers at schools, including teachers, public officials, and contract workers, but there are no experts responsible for safety and health at regional support offices,” adding, “A dedicated safety and health department should be created at the support offices, with personnel assigned and budgets allocated to establish a system that supports school sites.”

They said, “We intend to hold a forum on establishing and implementing a school safety and health management system to find ways to protect workers’ lives and health and clarify the authority and roles of supervisors,” and urged, “The provincial Office of Education should actively participate in the forum scheduled for 2 p.m. on July 7 to discuss the establishment of the safety and health management system.”

Earlier, the provincial Office of Education conducted training to strengthen understanding of industrial safety and health tasks for about 3,000 people, including public school administrative office heads, clerks, nutritionists, nutrition teachers, local office field workers, and officials, from the 23rd of last month to the 23rd of this month.

Among the total 13 training sessions held by region, it was found that only 12 out of 567 nutritionists and nutrition teachers in the province attended the 7th session.

On the 12th, Superintendent Park Jong-hoon ordered an audit regarding their collective absence.

He said, “If public officials are not willing to do their best and take responsibility in their roles, they should not be public officials,” adding, “The auditor should immediately investigate whether the absence from training was a collective and organized action by nutrition teachers and strictly hold accountable those responsible.”

He further stated, “I will exercise the superintendent’s administrative order authority to gather only the nutrition teachers at the provincial Office of Education headquarters and conduct the training again.”

Superintendent Park emphasized, “While I understand that the welfare of public officials is important to improve the quality of education, I did not become superintendent for the welfare of public officials,” and stressed, “Public officials must be loyal servants of the people and must not evade their duties and responsibilities. This is the superintendent’s clear stance.”

Nutrition teachers have opposed being classified as field workers under the Industrial Safety and Health Act amendment in 2019, which categorized nutrition teachers and nutritionists overseeing school meal services as field workers.

They reportedly did not attend the training because it was conducted unilaterally without prior communication with them, and they felt the Office of Education was trying to shift middle management roles and safety and health responsibilities onto nutrition teachers.

The Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union is holding a nutrition teachers' conference on the road in front of the Gyeongnam Office of Education.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

The Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union held a nutrition teachers’ rally on the road in front of the provincial Office of Education on the afternoon of the 28th to condemn this.

They stated, “Suddenly, the Office of Education announced training to strengthen understanding of industrial safety and health tasks, causing great confusion at school sites,” and argued, “The person responsible for school safety and health management is the principal, not the nutrition teacher, but the amended Industrial Safety and Health Act shifts safety and health responsibilities onto nutrition teachers.”

They added, “Since it is difficult for the principal, as the supervisor, to perform related tasks, the solution should not be to delegate those tasks to subordinates, but rather to establish a support system and provide education so that supervisors can properly fulfill their roles.”

Regarding the audit related to the training absence, they said, “It was conducted unfairly and excessively, including examining personal mobile phones.”

They demanded ▲ strengthening the role of supervisors as responsible parties under the School Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act ▲ support for prevention of school industrial accidents and serious accidents and handling of related matters.

In response, a provincial Office of Education official said, “Although the training notice stated that it was a session to properly recognize and share the Industrial Safety and Health Act, it seems the message was not properly conveyed,” adding, “We will review related cases in other city and provincial offices of education, consider ways to resolve conflicts and improve the system, and also review participation in the forum.”

Regarding the audit, the official said, “Since the related audit is ongoing, we cannot disclose the audit targets or investigation methods, but it is being conducted according to legal procedures.”

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