13 School Meal Workers Recognized for Occupational Lung Cancer... Establishment of Testing Standards

Applicants 31... CT Scan for 'Aged 55 and Over with Over 10 Years of Service'

Students eating bread, rice cakes, and juice prepared as substitute meals at Ahyeon Elementary School in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd, when school irregular workers responsible for meals and care entered their second general strike to demand improved treatment. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Since the first recognition of lung cancer in school meal workers as an industrial accident in February, it has been revealed that 13 people have been recognized for lung cancer as an industrial accident so far.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that since 2018, 31 school meal workers (including former workers) have applied for recognition of lung cancer as an industrial accident, and as of the 30th of last month, 13 have been recognized as industrial accidents. Among the remaining workers, investigations are underway to determine whether 17 cases qualify as industrial accidents. One person was not recognized as an industrial accident.

Including leukemia and colon cancer, a total of 34 workers have applied for recognition of occupational diseases after falling ill while working for school meals since 2018. A worker who worked as a cooking assistant for about 10 years at a middle school in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province, and died of lung cancer was recognized as an industrial accident in February following an application by the bereaved family. At that time, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service cited significant exposure to 'cooking fumes,' a carcinogenic smoke generated when oil is heated to high temperatures and oxidized, as the basis for recognizing the industrial accident.

Since then, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has begun establishing health examination standards for lung cancer among school meal workers. The new standard requires low-dose lung computed tomography (CT) scans for "people working in school kitchens who have worked for more than 10 years or are aged 55 or older." The Ministry recently instructed educational authorities to conduct health examinations preferably within next year. A ministry official explained, "The timing of health examinations may be adjusted depending on the budget situation of the Ministry of Education and each education office," adding, "Some education offices have also stated that they can implement it immediately."