"Robot Cooks Soup"... First Demonstration of Meal Robot at Seoul Sunggok Middle School

First Introduction of Measures for Cafeteria Workers' Lung Health Deterioration
"We Will Expand and Promote Workplace Environment Improvement Plans"

Among nationwide school meal workers, 52 have been diagnosed with lung cancer, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will unveil a demonstration of the school meal robot, the first of its kind introduced nationwide.

The robot cooking guk, tang, and jjigae at Sunggok Middle School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.
[Photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education]

On the 22nd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will reveal the school meal robot at Sunggok Middle School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The school meal robot cooks foods that were previously dangerous to prepare due to high temperatures, such as soups, stews, stir-fries, and deep-fried dishes, replacing human cooks. A total of four robots have been introduced at Sunggok Middle School: two for stir-frying, one for soups and stews, and one for frying.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education introduced the school meal robot after concerns were raised that school cafeteria workers’ lung health was deteriorating due to carcinogens such as cooking fumes (fine dust generated during cooking).

According to a survey conducted by 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide from last year to May this year, among approximately 24,000 school cafeteria workers, 54 (0.12%) were confirmed to have lung cancer.

By introducing the school meal robot, the Seoul Office of Education also revealed interim results of its efforts to improve school cafeteria environments, including preventing respiratory diseases among meal cooks and addressing musculoskeletal disorder issues.

A school meal robot at Sunggok Middle School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is shown adding ingredients. [Photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education]

The response from the cooking site has also been positive. In a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education targeting seven cafeteria workers at this school, 83% responded that working conditions had improved.

Additionally, 86% said their workload had decreased by 25-30% compared to before, and 85% expressed that the project should be expanded.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "Along with the introduction of the school meal robot, we will lower the deployment standards and expand and promote work environment improvement measures that cafeteria workers can directly feel, such as tray rental, to reduce the workload of cooking staff."

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