Working too long a week is endangering your health.
A weekly working time of more than 55 hours in fact increases the risk of death from heart disease and stroke, according to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). ) published on Monday.
This first global analysis of the loss of life and health damage associated with long working hours comes as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates developments that may reinforce the tendency to work longer hours. Published in the journal Environment International, it does not however focus on the pandemic, but on previous years. The authors synthesized data from dozens of studies involving hundreds of thousands of participants.
The study concludes that working 55 hours or more per week is associated with an estimated 35% increase in the risk of stroke and 17% in the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease compared to working hours of 35 to 40 hours per week.
"Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard," said Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Environment, Climate Change and Health Department at WHO.
"It is time for everyone (governments, employers and employees) to finally admit that long working hours can lead to premature death," she adds.
"The first risk factor for occupational disease"
In 2016, the WHO and the ILO estimate that 398,000 people died from stroke and 34,000 from heart disease after working at least 55 hours per week.
Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease associated with long working hours increased by 42%, a number that stands at 19% for strokes.
Most of the recorded deaths were among people aged 60 to 79, who had worked 55 or more hours per week when they were between 45 and 74 years old.
In summary, says the WHO, "now that we know that about a third of the total
(of the mortality considered to be)
related to work is attributable to long working hours, which makes it the first risk factor for occupational disease ”. “We found no gender differences in the effect of long working hours on the incidence of cardiovascular disease,” said Frank Pega, expert at WHO. However, the burden of disease is particularly high among men (72% of deaths concern them) because they represent a large proportion of workers worldwide. It is also higher among people living in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia regions, where, according to Frank Pega, there are more informal sector workers likely to be forced to work for long periods of time. days.
Teleworking "often blurs the lines between home and work"
The WHO is all the more worried about this phenomenon as the number of people working long hours is increasing. It represents 9% of the total world population. The pandemic should, moreover, do little to reverse the trend. “Telecommuting has become the norm in many industries, often blurring the lines between home and work. In addition, many companies have been forced to downsize or shut down to save money and the people they continue to employ end up with longer working hours, ”says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director-General of WHO. But, he warned, "No job is worth taking the risk of a stroke or heart disease." Governments,employers and workers must work together to agree on limits to protect workers' health ”.
Citing a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 15 countries, Frank Pega indicates that "the number of working hours increased by about 10% during lockdowns". Teleworking, associated with a digitalization of work processes, makes it more difficult to disconnect workers, he explains, recommending to organize “rest periods”. The pandemic, he adds, has also increased job insecurity, which in times of crisis tends to push those who have kept theirs to work more to show they are competitive.
