Working Long Hours Kills 745,000 People a Year, Study Finds.
The study, conducted with the International Labour Organization (ILO), is the first global study of its kind.
It found that in 2016,
745,000 people died from
stroke and heart disease
related to working long hours.
People in South East Asia and the Western Pacific were found to be the most affected.
Those who work over 55 hours a week
were found to have a 35% greater risk
of stroke and 17% more of a chance
of dying from heart disease.
According to researchers, there are two ways workers were affected by working long hours.
First, they encountered
physiological responses to stress.
Second, longer hours left workers more susceptible to less sleep and exercise, an unhealthy diet, and increased tobacco and alcohol use.
Almost three quarters of the people who died from working long hours in 2016 were middle-aged or older men.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the recent shift to remote working amid the pandemic may have increased these risks.
We have some evidence that shows that when countries go into national lockdown, the number of hours worked increase by about 10%, WHO technical officer Frank Pega, via statement