Debate rages over whether chefs should wear masks in hot kitchens
Debate rages over whether chefs should wear masks in hot kitchens
2022-07-22
Debate is raging over mask wearing in restaurant kitchens. The CECC recently announced that workers in open spaces outdoors didn’’t have to wear masks. That’’s good news for folks working under the scorching sun. Now some chefs say: they want the same freedom. Restaurant kitchens can get as hot as any street outside. Others say hygiene should be No. 1. Let’’s hear from both sides.
A red-hot fire leaps from the wok. The chef keeps flipping the stir-fry. The kitchen is incredibly hot and stuffy, but all the chefs are wearing masks, making it harder to breathe. And to protect the temperature of the food, they can’t turn on the air con.
Chen Po-jung
Restaurant chef
The kitchen is basically 36 or 37 degrees. I get through four or five masks a day. And we take a rapid COVID test every day.
At the peak of service, the chefs are so busy they don’t even have time to wipe the sweat from their brow. The scorching summer heat is getting tough, and a chef’s shirt dripping with sweat is the norm. Masks have to be changed repeatedly. The government now says workers can take masks off outside. And some say kitchen staff should get a break too. But not everyone agrees.
Chen Po-jung
Restaurant chef
We always wore masks before the pandemic. It’s basic hygiene for people who work in a kitchen.
Miss. Yu
Stall owner
I wear one, it’s my personal habit.
Lin Tung-li
Restaurant chef
The temperature is already in the 30s. In the kitchen it can reach more than 40 degrees. It causes a lot of trouble with the whole face and the skin. I think it would be excellent if we could choose whether or not to wear masks in the kitchen.
Some restaurants have always required staff to wear masks. At other eateries, bosses would be happy to let them come off, to help the chefs’ skin breathe as well as their lungs. Most restaurants are still insisting employees wear masks for hygiene reasons. But as the pandemic eases, more and more people will want to breathe easier again.
空曠處工作免戴口罩廚房工作要不要戴罩引熱議
2022-07-22
日前疫情指揮中心放寬口罩政策，在空曠處的戶外工作者，可免戴口罩，但其實不只在大太陽下戴口罩工作很辛苦，夏天的廚房溫度，逼近40度高溫，廚房工作人員，要不要戴口罩，也出現兩派說法。
熊熊烈火，從鍋爐冒出，廚師快手翻炒，忙著出餐。廚房高溫、悶熱，還要戴著口罩，讓師傅們喘不過氣。為了控制食物溫度，廚師們也無法吹冷氣降溫。
[[餐廳廚師陳柏融]]
“(廚房溫度)大概36、37度都是基本的，一天大概都要換4到5個口罩，那我們也是每天快篩。”
用餐時段，廚師忙得騰不出手來擦汗，夏天熱浪來襲，在料理台前汗流浹背，成為常態，口罩更要頻繁更換。隨著中央宣布戶外工作者免戴口罩，餐飲業工作戴不戴口罩，也出現兩種看法。
[[餐廳廚師陳柏融]]
“在疫情前我們都是會戴口罩的。對在廚房工作的人來講，是一個基本衛生。”
[[小吃攤店長余小姐]]
“我會戴，是個人的(習慣)。”
[[餐廳廚師林東立]]
“天氣已經30幾度，在廚房更是來到40幾度。整個臉跟皮膚都會造成很多的困擾。如果說開放整個廚房不需要戴口罩，我覺得是非常好。”
有餐廳，嚴格要求食安，疫情前就習慣戴口罩，也有業者體恤員工，支持彈性鬆綁，不然皮膚長時間被悶住，會引發皮膚炎。不過顧慮餐飲衛生安全，所以多數餐飲業者堅持口罩戴緊緊，讓廚房工作的員工，維持高標準防疫。
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