School kitchens hide potential dangers—and not just for food service personnel. Surprisingly, children—even kindergartners—face those dangers while volunteering in the kitchens. Patti Richardson, a cook in the North Shore School District in Washington state, wants to educate the public on the hazards that school kids might face.

Richardson, a steward for the AFT-affiliated United Classified Workers Union, has spearheaded a campaign to create safety guidelines for student kitchen volunteers. While the public assumes that students are safe, Richardson tells a different story: Kids push 140-degree carts designed for adult use, unload scalding dishes from industrial-size dishwashers and strain their backs carrying 40-pound plastic crates of milk—a task that tore a cook’s rotator cuff.

The use of kitchen volunteers raises other concerns, as well, such as unmonitored children eating unhealthy foods, says Wendy Rader-Konofalski, the assistant to the president of the Washington Federation of Teachers. The volunteers also miss class. And they can put others at risk—the lack of basic hygiene standards for school volunteers creates the possibility of food-borne illness. Because no permission slip is required to volunteer, many parents remain ignorant of the situation. Richardson calls these conditions a “melting pot for disaster.”

The issue extends beyond students and food safety; it also has negative effects on unionized workers. School districts have been known to cut budgets and deny workers crucial hours and benefits while using kids to supplement the workload. For their part, food service personnel might want volunteers because they free up time to complete paperwork that otherwise might have to be done during unpaid hours, Richardson notes. And with kitchens already understaffed, cafeteria workers cannot afford to use time monitoring volunteers.

Working with the WFT, Richardson helped draft legislation requiring written parental consent for student volunteers, demanding reports on all injuries, creating physical activity standards and mandating training.

After a year of lobbying, Richardson and Rader-Konofalski turned to state Rep. Joe McDermott (D-Seattle) to sponsor the legislation. McDermott, vice chair of the Education Committee, invited Richardson to testify at a hearing. She impressed the representatives, eliciting surprised reactions from legislators ignorant of the lurking threats volunteers face. After passage through committee, a scaled-back version of the legislation passed overwhelmingly on the House floor. Unfortunately, the bill appears to have died due to inaction in the state Senate.

Richardson and Rader-Konofalski remain undaunted. They are working with state regulatory agencies this summer to create statewide safety guidelines. And if that doesn’t produce the needed changes, they will return to the state Legislature to pass their bill. Whatever happens, Richardson will continue to spread her message: “Let teachers teach, let cooks cook and let children learn.”