Causes of death due to overwork

Year 2017, Volume 2, Issue 1(4), 23 - 23, 01.11.2017

Muhsin Akbaba Burak Kurt Volkan Recai Ötegen

Abstract

Deaths
originating from excessive, intense and overworked work were first described in
Japan in the late 1970s, so the literature was referred to in Japanese as
"karoshi". Such that, people who end up suffering from brain
hemorrhage or heart attack are losing their lives in Japan due to long and
heavy working conditions. Karoshi is death of worker depending on working for
average of 65 hours or more per week for 4 weeks or more, or 60 hours or more
per week for 8 weeks for more.

Symptoms include extreme fatigue, headache, headache, malaise, flu symptoms,
and neck pain. As it is understood from these indications, the existence of
karoshi cases is closely related to physical and mental fatigue, working late
hours, not enough rest.

When karoshi cases were examined, all workers without gender, white / blue
collar distinction were found to have similar karoshi risk. Health workers,
metal and chemical workers, restaurant-hotel employees,
bank-advertising-newspaper-office workers, teachers, truck drivers, call center
employees are considered as important risk groups.

In Japan, 328 workers died in 2005 due to karoshi. In New York City, the number
of compensation cases from karoshi is about 200 to 300 every year. There are
over 2,000 cases in South Korea.

In Turkey, 48 workers died in 2013, 121 in 2014, 155 in 2014, and 68 workers in
the first four months of 2016 lost their lives by having a heart attack or
brain hemorrhage. According to this, it is thought that the deaths caused by
"possible karoshi" have increased rapidly in the last four years.

What to do to prevent karoshi:

1. Reduce working hours and excessive work,

2. Provide adequate medical support and treatment,

3. Promote an active and effective dialogue among workers and to provide an
efficient and healthy working environment for the employer.

 

 

Keywords:
overwork,
death, causes

Keywords

Causes of death due to overwork

References

• Muhsin Akbaba, Burak Kurt, Volkan Recai Ötegen Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine Department of Public Health