Long hours

Summary:

Working long hours is the single biggest contributor to the global occupational disease burden. Now is not the time to deregulate working time legislation in post-Brexit Britain.

The single biggest occupational disease risk factor is working long hours, responsible for around one-third of the world’s work-related disease burden. This is the alarming conclusion of a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), which estimates that almost three-quarters of a million people died worldwide in a single year because of working 55 hours or more a week¹. The risk estimates are based on data collected before the COVID-19 pandemic and should serve as a warning as countries attempt to recover from the ensuing economic crisis, potentially putting workers under increasing pressure to work longer hours to boost productivity…

Dr John Ballard – Editor, Occupational Health [at Work]

Author: Ballard J

Tags health promotion occupational disease

Occupational Health at Work June/July 2021 (vol. 18/1) pp03

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