Increase in Food Waste Disposer Safety Accidents... Consumer Agency "Caution Needed"

Among the total damaged areas, fingers account for 67.5%

The Korea Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission recently warned that numerous safety accidents have occurred during the use of food waste disposers and urged caution.

According to the Consumer Agency on the 31st, a total of 1,182 hazard reports related to food waste disposers were received from 2020 to last year. This is an increase of 876 cases (286.3%) compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (306 cases from 2017 to 2019). The Consumer Agency attributed this to the increased proportion of cooking at home or eating delivered meals due to COVID-19.

When examining the received hazard reports by age group, those in their 40s accounted for the most with 362 cases (30.6%), followed by those in their 50s (335 cases, 28.3%) and 30s (240 cases, 20.3%). Among these, an analysis of 40 hazard reports involving safety accidents showed that the main cause of harm was 'product-related' (24 cases, 60%). The most common injury symptom was 'damage to skin and subcutaneous tissue' with 26 cases (65%), and the most affected body part was 'fingers' with 27 cases (67.5%).

The Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission stated, "As consumer interest and demand for food waste disposers increase, special attention is required to prevent safety accidents during use." As preventive measures, they advised installing food waste disposers out of reach of infants and young children, always turning off the power when removing foreign substances, and using tongs or similar tools.