Long working hours are apparently killing hundreds of thousands of people a year, says the World Health Organization (WHO)
The first global study of its kind has shown that 745,000 people died in the year of 2016 from stroke, as well as heart disease, as a result of long working hours.
The report has found that people living within South East Asia and the Western Pacific region had been the most affected by long work hours.
The WHO also said that the trend may worsen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research found out that working 55 hours or more per week was associated with a 35% higher risk of having a stroke, as well as a 17% higher risk of dying of heart disease, compared with a working week of between 35 to 40 hours.
This comes after an independent public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic will be held in the spring of 2022, Boris Johnson told MPs. Boris Johnson said that the government was “fully committed to learning the lessons at every stage of this crisis”.
The study, that was conducted with the International Labour Organization (ILO), has also shown almost three quarters of those who had died as a result of working long hours were either middle-aged or older men.
Often, these deaths had occurred much later in life, sometimes being decades later, than the long hours were worked.
Five weeks ago, a post to the social media website LinkedIn, from 45-year-old Jonathan Frostick had gained widespread publicity after he had described how he’d had a sudden wake-up call over long working hours.
The regulatory programme manager working for the bank HSBC had just sat down on a Sunday afternoon in order to prepare for the working week ahead when he had felt a tightness in his chest and a throbbing in his throat, jawline and arm, as well as having difficulty with breathing.
“I got to the bedroom so I could lie down, and got the attention of my wife who phoned 999,” he said.
While he was recovering from his heart-attack, Mr Frostick decided that he needed to restructure his approach to work. “I’m not spending all day on Zoom anymore,” he said.
This comes after the Prime Minister is under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over his £15,000 trip to the Caribbean island of Mustique.
His LinkedIn post struck a chord with many readers, who also shared their experiences of overworking and the impact it has had on their health.
Mr Frostick doesn’t blame his employer for the long hours he was putting in, but one respondent said: “Companies continue to push people to their limits without concern for your personal well-being.”
HSBC has since said that everyone at the bank wished Mr Frostick a full and speedy recovery.
“We also recognise the importance of personal health and wellbeing and a good work-life balance. Over the last year we have redoubled our efforts on health and wellbeing.
“The response to this topic shows how much this is on people’s minds and we are encouraging everyone to make their health and wellbeing a top priority.”
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