Working for 55 hours or more in a week health hazard: WHO

Working for 55 hours or more in a week health hazard: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) said the research was the first global analysis of the impact of clocking up excessive hours on death and health generally. The study estimates long working hours caused 745,000 deaths worldwide in 2016, up by 29 percent since 2000. Compared with working 35 to 40 hours a week, those working more than 55 saw their risk of heart disease increase by 17 percent, while there was a 35 percent hike in the risk of stroke. Researchers found 9 percent of the global population worked at least 55 hours a week in 2016, and that percentage is still growing. From 2000 to 2016, in relative terms, the proportion of the population working long hours has also increased by 9 percent. Europe was the region with the lowest percentage of people working long hours. In Europe, the figure was just 3.5 percent. Europe was also the only region not to see an increase in deaths between 2000 and 2016, although Ukraine was highlighted as having the highest estimated death rate from heart disease attributable to long hours, alongside Egypt and Lebanon. It saw around 15 deaths per 100,000 in the population,