Employmentweb_low

EmpLoymEnT, work, And HEALTH inEquALiTiES - a global perspective
restaurants, and transport, storage and communications. in Jamaica, for example, working hours for security industry
workers have been estimated at 72 hours per week (lee, mccann, & messenger, 2007).
in some wealthy countries such as Japan, however, employees also work for very long hours, an issue related to the structure of
employment relations, work organisation and production methods, and a culture of labour that promotes long work hours. Working for
long hours has been associated with health-related effects such as fatigue, mental health problems, and cardiovascular and
musculoskeletal disorders (landsbergis, 2004; Johnson & lipscomb, 2006). in Japan, serious social concern over health effects due to
excessive working hours has been reported since the 1970s, when a number of deaths due to overwork (karõshi) with claims for
compensation were identified. in the 1980s, media and public concern increased, and the Japanese government began to publish karõshi
statistics regularly. between 2002 and 2005, about 300 cases of deaths were recognised for compensation by the ministry of health, labour
and Welfare, as deaths due to cardiovascular attacks (e.g., strokes and myocardial infarction) triggered by excessive workload (iwasaki,
takahashi, & nakata, 2006). Karõshi deaths have been linked to long working hours, shift work, and irregular work schedules. most victims
had been working long hours exceeding 3,000 per year. although precise data on the incidence of these deaths are not available, it has
been estimated that one-third of cerebrovascular or cardiovascular disease cases in the 20 to 59 years old age group (more than 10,000
deaths annually) in Japan might be work-related (Kawahito, 1992). however, a significantly more conservative estimate has also been
given (nishiyama & Johnson, 1997). data on compensated cases of karõshi indicate that most are male, and that about 40 per cent
occurred in the 50-59 year age group (in 2006). however, about half of all compensated cases occurred in workers younger than 50 years
old. contrary to the public image of the karõshi victim as a higher status white-collar (non-manual) worker, compensated cases included
many blue-collar (manual), service, and clerical workers, in addition to white-collar workers (ministry of health, labour, and Welfare,
2007). it is possible, of course, that compensated cases are not representative of the much larger number of estimated karõshi cases. the
extent of cardiovascular-disease risk associated with excessive work has not been clarified completely.
deaths from cardiovascular diseases due to overwork may represent the tip of the iceberg, simply revealing the most visible
indicator of the health effects of overwork. thus, karõshi may also include other acute deaths related to delayed medical treatment due
to a lack of free time to see a doctor, or suicides attributable to overwork. the number of suicide cases in Japan has been increasing
since 1990, accounting for more than 30,000 deaths annually since 1998. in addition to deaths from overwork, karõjisatsu (overworkrelated
suicide) is a spreading occupational threat and a social problem in Japan. some evidence has linked deaths by suicide to working
long hours and experiencing heavy workloads (amagasa, nakayama, & takahashi, 2005). the age distribution of the 205 compensated
cases of karõjisatsu in 2006 was younger than the distribution of compensated karõshi cases. only 16 per cent of the cases occurred in
the 50-59 year age group (in 2006), while 18 per cent occurred in the 40-49 year age group, 40 per cent in the 30-39 year age group and
18 per cent in the 20-29 year age group. similar to karõshi cases, compensated karõjisatsu cases included many blue-collar (manual),
service, and clerical workers in addition to white-collar workers (ministry of health, labour and Welfare, 2007). however, once again it
is also possible that compensated cases are not representative of the larger number of estimated karõjisatsu cases.
the Japanese government has tried to address the problem of overworking by encouraging workers to take leave when they start families
or need to care for elderly parents, and promoting a five-day work week. in 2002, the government provided its first countermeasures for the
prevention of karõshi, launching a program for the prevention of health impairment-associated overwork, stating that they should not work more
than 45 hours overtime per month. in 2006, a governmental intervention in the form of administrative guidance to employees and their
employers was enforced for cases where overtime work exceeds 100 hours per month. attempts to reduce hours and resist pressure to
overwork have been largely unsuccessful thus far due to the long-standing and widespread practice of overtime by employers to increase
productivities, recent increases in part-time positions, lack of job security, and workers' need to work long hours to make ends meet. recently,
the first legal cases of karõshi have appeared in countries like south Korea (gwarosa) and china, a phenomenon which might be due to increasing
industrialisation and changes in work organisation, as well as the work culture shared among the east asian countries.
References
amagasa, t., nakayama, t., & takahashi, y. (2005). Karõjisatsu in Japan: characteristics of 22 cases of work-related suicide.
Journal of Occupational Health, 47(2), 157-164.
iwasaki, K., takahashi, m., & nakata, a. (2006). health problems due to long working hours in Japan: working hours,
workers' compensation (Karoshi), and preventive measures. Industrial Health, 44(4), 537-540.
Johnson, J. v., & lipscomb, J. (2006). long working hours, occupational health and the changing nature of work
organization. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 49(11), 921-929.
Kawahito, h. (1992). Karõshi shakai to nihon (Karõshi Society and Japan). tokyo: Kaden sha.
landsbergis, p. (2004). long work hours, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 20(6), 1746-1748.
lee, s., mccann, d., & messenger, J. c. (2007). Working time around the world: Trends in working hours, laws and policies in
a global comparative perspective. geneva: international labour organization.
ministry of health, labour and Welfare. (2007). retrieved october 20, 2008, from,
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2007/05/h0516-2.html [in Japanese]
nishiyama, K., & Johnson, J. v. (1997). Karõshi-death from overwork: occupational health consequences of Japanese
production management. International Journal of Health Services, 27(4), 625-641.
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