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Abstract
Hotel kitchens are the most hazardous departments of hotel establishments in terms of occupational accidents. The fact that one in every four employees is a young worker aged 15–24, and that this group has the highest occupational accident rate among all industry sectors, has led recent studies to focus on young workers. This research addresses young workers employed in the kitchen departments of accommodation establishments, which, despite being classified as 'low hazard', rank among the highest in occupational accidents. The aim of the research is to uncover the factors underlying the occupational accidents experienced by young workers while working in hotel kitchens. Despite the importance of the topic, no study exists in the literature on the occupational accidents specifically experienced by young hotel workers. Using a qualitative research approach, answers were sought to the questions of what types of occupational accidents young workers experience, how these accidents occur, and how they can be prevented. Within the scope of the research, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 young workers who had experienced an occupational accident while working in hotel kitchens within the last three years, and the resulting data were analyzed following the Reflexive Thematic Analysis process. The findings of the study revealed that young workers employed in hotel kitchens: (i) experienced burns and cuts as the most common types of occupational accidents, similar to their colleagues; (ii) sustained injuries most frequently to their upper extremities as a result of these accidents; (iii) experienced accidents attributable to unsafe work environments, unsafe behaviors, and unsafe social environments, respectively; (iv) were most frequently involved in accidents associated with admisintrative factors and their own slips & lapses; (v) their mistakes were associated with almost all unsafe environmental factors; (vi) although the majority had received occupational health and safety training before hired, only a small proportion received repeated training following the accident; (vii) experienced physical and emotional problems following the accidents; and (viii) approximately half perceived the accident as an opportunity to sleep and rest.
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Abstract