Working more than 55 hours a week, the leading factor in death at work
One third of the two million deaths each year are caused by long working hours
BarcelonaOn more than one occasion the death of an employee from working more than one day without interruption has been in the news. In some cases, it has even been as long as 72 hours, as in the case of a 21-year-old intern who was doing an internship at the Bank of America. A five-year long investigation carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), and published Friday by the United Nations, confirms the harmful effects of long working hours.
The report warns that working more than 55 hours a week (11 hours a day from Monday to Friday) is already considered the main factor of mortality at work. Of the nearly two million people who die in the world for causes related to their job per year, in a third (750,000) of the cases is due to excessive working hours.
The study, which is made with data prior to the pandemic, specifically uses data from 2000 to 2016, analyses 19 occupational risk factors, such as the aforementioned long working hours, but also air pollution and noise. The research concludes that most work-related deaths are due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, the main causes are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (450,000 deaths), stroke (400,000 victims), trauma (360,000) and ischemic heart disease, which is the narrowing of the coronary arteries (350,000 deaths).
China and India, at the forefront
The study also warns that work-related deaths linked to heart disease have increased by 41% between 2000 and 2016, while those linked to strokes grew during the same period by 19%.
Regarding countries, China and India are the ones with the highest number of deaths. Specifically, they account for a third of the total, with more than 400,000 deaths in each country. The figures for Japan and Italy are also striking, with 38,000 and 20,000 victims, respectively. As for Spain, it exceeds 9,000.
The report does not make an estimate of the economic impact of this mortality. Even so, it does warn that in the case of diseases and injuries "overloads the health system, lowers productivity and can have a catastrophic impact on household income". That is why the research suggests that an agreement on the maximum healthy working time limits is needed to prevent long working hours and that ventilation and the use of personal protective equipment should be better controlled to reduce exposure to polluted air.
Avoidable deaths
"These nearly two million premature deaths are avoidable", said Maria Neira, director of the WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, who added that both the health and labour sectors have to take responsibility for curbing this problem. WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom, has called it "shocking" to see how so many people die "directly" because of their work. "Our report is a wake-up call to countries and companies to improve and protect the health and safety of workers by fulfilling their commitments to provide universal coverage of occupational health and safety services", he said. Along the same lines, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder called on governments, employers and workers to take action to reduce exposure to risk factors in the workplace.
