Development of a Sustainable Occupational Health and Safety Scale for Food Service Systems

Objective: This study aimed to develop a scale for evaluating sustainable occupational health and safety within food service systems, specifically institutions that provide food servicesMethods: The study was designed as cross-sectional and quantitative research. A total of 540 managerial kitchen staff employed in food service institutions across 22 provinces in Türkiye were included. The initial scale, comprising 56 items across 7 sub-dimensions, was piloted with 100 managerial kitchen personnel. Following the pilot, validity and reliability analyses were conducted, including assessments of internal consistency, item-total correlations, and item discrimination.Results: Based on factor and reliability analyses, the scale was refined to 37 items grouped under five sub-dimensions: “Emergency Preparedness,” “Training and Awareness,” “Physical Environment, Equipment, and Technology,” “Chemical and Biological Risks,” and “Legal Regulations and Legislation.” The total Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.986. The five-factor structure explained 78.66% of the total variance. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient was 0.962, and Bartlett’s test was statistically significant (χ² = 23366.314, p < 0.001).Conclusion: The findings indicate that the developed scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing sustainable occupational health and safety in food service systems.