Stress at work not only affects emotional well-being, it can also have fatal consequences. A new international report warns that current working conditions are linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths every year around the world.
According to a study by the International Labor Organization titled ‘The psychosocial environment of work: global developments and avenues for action’, more than 840,088 people die annually from diseases related to psychosocial risks in the work environment.
The analysis identifies several key factors behind this impact, such as work pressure, imbalance between effort and reward, job insecurity, long hours and harassment at work.
These elements mainly contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders.
Heart diseases lead deaths
Most deaths are related to cardiovascular problems.
The report attributes 783,694 deaths to conditions such as ischemic heart disease and stroke.
In contrast, 56,394 deaths are directly linked to mental disorders, such as depression.
However, mental health problems represent a greater burden in terms of years of healthy life lost, due to their chronic and debilitating nature.
Long hours and toxic environments
One of the most determining factors is the length of the working day.
According to the study, 35% of workers in the world work more than forty eight hours a weekwhile occupational health research considers that working more than 55 hours a week implies a high risk.
In some regions, such as Asia and the Pacific, the problem is even greater: 47% of workers exceed forty eight hours per week.
Furthermore, these long hours are more common in informal jobs (41%) than in formal jobs (28%).
Sectors such as wholesale and retail trade, transportation, communications and manufacturing account for the highest levels of these long days.
Workplace violence and harassment
The report also highlights that 23% of workers worldwide have experienced any type of violence or harassment during their working life.
Psychological violence is the most frequent (18%), followed by physical violence (9%) and sexual violence (6%), the latter with a higher incidence in women.
Economic impact and call to action
The cost of these occupational risks is not only human.
The International Labor Organization estimates that the combination of cardiovascular diseases and work-related mental disorders is equivalent to a loss of work. 1.37% of world gross domestic product every year.
Given this panorama, the international organization recommends implementing stricter workplace safety policies, improving work organization, common working hours and strengthening mechanisms so that employees can report inadequate conditions.
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