Changes in Kitchen Thermal Exposure Following the Introduction of Electric Cooking: A Before-and-After Case Study of Three Kampala Kitchens

Institutional and commercial cooks may experience sustained heat exposure from combustion-based cooking, yet field evidence on thermal conditions following the introduction of electric cooking remains limited. This exploratory before-and-after case study examined three purposively selected kitchens in Kampala, Uganda, combining five-minute temperature and relative humidity monitoring at three spatial positions with cooking diaries, repeated thermal comfort and sensation votes, and enumerator observations. Heat Index (HI) was used as a temperature–humidity screening proxy, and Kampala weather data were used to calculate weather-adjusted differences. On documented active e-cooking days, mean hourly near-stove HI fell from 33.26 °C to 26.00 °C at Site A, 31.35 °C to 29.55 °C at Site B, and 31.71 °C to 27.50 °C at Site C. Time in the Safe HI category increased from 23.5% to 67.8%, 17.0% to 33.3%, and 25.4% to 53.0%, respectively. Day-level tests and a sensitivity analysis using all weather-matched intervention period logger days showed the same overall direction. Raw cooking durations declined for several meals, although, after normalisation by the number of people served, the reductions remained statistically detectable only for Site B breakfast and lunch. The results provide exploratory evidence of lower environmental thermal exposure under documented active e-cooking conditions. Sequential timing, purposive sampling, workload differences, incomplete intervention records and the absence of radiant, air speed and physiological measurements prevent causal interpretation as reduced occupational heat strain.