Working 55hours a week can lead to early death, finds recent study

As per a recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO), hundreds of thousands of people die each year from stroke and heart disease due to long hours of working. In a global study of the connection between loss of life, health and long working hours, WHO and the International Labor Organization estimated that approximately 745,000 people died in 2016 because they worked at least 55 hours a week. Most deaths were recorded among people aged 60 to 79, who worked at least 55 hours between 45 and 74 years. The analysis found that men were hit the hardest and accounted for 72% of the deaths. The report said middle-aged or older workers living in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia have taken on an especially large share of the disease burden. The study, published Monday in the journal Environment International, found that deaths from heart disease associated with long working hours increased by 42% between 2000 and 2016, and strokes by 19%. The new study stated that individuals who worked 55 or more hours a week had an approximated 35% higher chance of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease - heart disease caused by narrowing of the arteries - compared to those who work 35-40 hours a week are "working 55 hours or more a week a severe health hazard," Dr Maria Neira, director of the WHO's department of environment, climate change and health, stated in a statement.

"It is time for all of us, governments, employers and employees, to wake up to the fact that long working hours can lead to premature death," said Dr Maria Neira.

The WHO said there were two ways long hours could cause death; first, the psychological stress of long hours can produce a physiological response, causing reactions in the cardiovascular system and lesions that cause a change in tissue.

The second is through unhealthy behaviours in response to stress, including smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet, physical inactivity and impaired sleep and poor recovery - all considered risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

The analysis looked at a period before March 11, 2020, when WHO declared the outbreak of the coronavirus a pandemic.

However, it is said that the pandemic in the coronavirus could put significant pressure on employees who are forced to work from home.

Domestic workers in the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada and the United States take more hours than before, according to research conducted during the pandemic by NordVPN Teams, a New York company that provides virtual private networks (VPNs) to businesses. Work from home has resulted in a 2.5-hour addition in the average working day in some countries, NordVPN Teams declared in its report, published in February.

The UK and the Netherlands last out, with people 'working until 20:00 and regularly logging off later than usual to complete a long working day', the report said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way most people work," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a declaration. "Teleworking has become the standard in many industries, often obscuring the lines between home and work. In addition, many businesses have been forced to mount back or cease operations to save money, and people who are still on the payroll are finally working—longer hours. "No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers must work together to reach agreements to protect the health of employees," he added.