Editor’s note: Restaurant workers’ names have been changed upon request to protect their privacy.
BEIRUT: In Lebanon’s dining establishments, it isn’t just food that has been mishandled. Many restaurants fail to provide employees with safe working conditions, which directly impacts food safety, occupational health researchers say. The Health Ministry has campaigned over several months to combat food safety violations across the country, publicly naming restaurants not up to code. Heath Minister Wael Abu Faour has pointed to a need to improve worker training and awareness on food handling but less attention has been given to the conditions of workers.
The Daily Star spoke to several people with experience working in restaurants throughout Lebanon. They explained how food safety extends far beyond proper training, and that treatment by management poses a challenge to serving safe food.
Ahmad came from Syria three years ago. Since then, he’s worked as a chef at several restaurants in Lebanon. Several years ago, he worked under backbreaking conditions in a pizza restaurant.
“I worked for 12 hours a day, with no days off,” he said of the job that was supposed to come with a $400 monthly salary.
On his feet for most of the shift, in the fast-paced kitchen, he said the fatigue of the job left him unable to focus at work. He remembers himself and other workers not keeping meat items separate from vegetables during food preparation, particularly during peak business hours. Moreover, the tiny kitchen space exacerbated the problem of keeping food items separated.
“In a rush, everything goes on the same cutting board,” he said.
After a month, Ahmad quit due to exhaustion. He never saw the salary he was owed, despite repeated attempts to retrieve the money from his supervisor.
Speaking of former employers, Ahmad said that management often tried to save money by keeping staff levels low. “This is a problem because there is no one to cover for us when we get sick,” he said.
Workers, well aware of their expendability, and desperate to not lose wages, feel pressure to come to work, even when they have the flu or a gastrointestinal illness.
Ahmad said that he and his colleagues feared losing their jobs if they called in sick.
Mahmoud, who works at a Beirut-based juice and smoothie shop, said that when fruits and vegetables come in early morning, he and other workers are in such a rush to open that they do not go through the necessary washing procedures for the produce.
“Sometimes, we throw dirty vegetables next to the clean vegetables in the refrigerator without sanitizing them first,” he said.
Worker safety extends beyond the kitchen. Delivery driver Bashir said that delivering food under tight pressure is a dangerous job. On Lebanon’s traffic-filled roads, safe driving is often ignored. On one delivery run, he was hit by a car and broke his hand when thrown from his motorbike. Although his restaurant provided insurance for accidents, he said it was two days before he finally received treatment.
“I went from hospital to hospital, but they said they didn’t accept insurance from ‘cheap’ companies,” he said, adding that after two days of searching, he finally received treatment from a small hospital in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In uncovering food hygiene horrors, government officials have given the public a gruesome view of labor conditions and their consequences at the Beirut slaughterhouse.
Abu Faour decried the slaughterhouse’s interior, an environment where workers are subject to improper ventilation, and the misuse of harsh cleaning agents. Meat and chicken were being immersed in bleach.
The Labor Ministry oversees implementation of labor standards, through Decree 11802, which includes provisions on worker health and safety, but those who have investigated occupational health in Lebanon say that lax enforcement is rampant.
Further, protections don’t apply to the multitude of workers without permits or in illegal arrangements, which have proliferated over the past three years due to the influx of Syrian refugees looking for work.
Rima Habib, associate professor of environmental health at the American University of Beirut, has extensively researched labor conditions in Lebanon. Drawing from her experience investigating working conditions in bakeries and the food production industry, she said that common risks include slippery floors, harsh cleaning fluids and a lack of protective equipment for workers using sharp machinery.
“For a wholesome product to be prepared, you need a healthy person to prepare it.”
Long and physically demanding hours cause fatigue, which poses a safety threat when exhausted workers use sharp equipment. For example, when cutting vegetables under these conditions, “you are more likely to injure yourself, especially if you are doing it with speed,” Habib said, adding that those who work long shifts or at night are at increased risk.
“When you are tired, you are less likely to operate under safe principles,” Habib said.
She explained that when workers dispose of rotten food, they risk exposure to contaminants that could be passed on to customers. Additionally, Hepatitis A is common in the food industry, and can spread easily when sanitary hand washing and toilet facilities aren’t provided in the workplace.
Habib said that employees who are working outside the law are particularly vulnerable to unsafe conditions, as they are desperate for income and have few employment options. They have no recourse for excessive working hours and are often easily expendable.
“Many are willing to work for much less money, with no benefits,” Habib said.
With regard to protection from injuries and disease, Habib said that restaurant employees working in illegal arrangements may receive insurance, but establishments will not insure each employee by name. “[Employers] get insurance that covers a certain number of accidents, for example 20 accidents per year,” she explained.
The influx of refugees has driven wages down in the service sector, at great cost to Lebanese job-seekers. Restaurants prefer to hire Syrians without work permits because they accept lower wages and aren’t provided with insurance benefits, such as the NSSF insurance that Lebanese employees receive.
A study published in 2014 assessed the effect of the Syrian influx on Lebanon’s fast food sector. It found that an average of only 20 percent of the workforce in locally owned fast food establishments was Lebanese. Internationally owned establishments employed around 80 percent, owing to social security rules.
Rami Chidiac is the head manager of ISO Liban, a local company specializing in training and quality management in the service industry. He said that regardless of worker nationality, those who handle food should have medical screening and legal documentation.
Proper education for employees is an essential component of ensuring food safety, he said.
“Training for food handlers should be provided on food safety and occupational health and safety to ensure that employees are trained to report illness and use appropriate protective clothing.”
He advocated for full integration of the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series into Lebanese labor law.
OHSAS is an internationally recognized standard to ensure management practices that facilitate occupational health, as well as the health and safety of workers by minimizing workplace risks.
Chidiac stressed the need for better ministerial monitoring of restaurant work conditions.
“They should have inspectors to see if occupational health and safety is implemented,” he said.
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