Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
Preventing overwork related disorders ("Karoshi")

Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
Preventing overwork related disorders ("Karoshi")

Preventing overwork , disorders ("Karoshi")

In 2014, the Japanese government established the Karoshi Prevention Measures Promotion Law to take preventive measures against the Karoshi problems. According to the law, Karoshi etc. is defined as:
- death due to cerebrovascular disease / heart disease due to
excessive workload - death from suicide due to mental illness due to strong psychological burden at work although not fatal, these cerebrovascular diseases, heart diseases, and mental disorders.
Evidence has accumulated showing long working hours leads to
heart diseases and stroke. A systematic review conducted as a WHO/ILO project confirms those working at least 55 hours a week are at higher risk of dying from heart disease and stroke. Globally, 488 million people worked excessively long hours, leading to 745,000 heart disease and stroke deaths in 2016 (Pega et al., 2021). Association between long working hours and depression is not evident (Rugulies et al., 2021), but a systematic review indicates that long working hours were associated with depressive symptoms and the estimated risk was larger among Asian countries where long working hours are more
prevalent compared with other regions (Virtanen et al., 2018). Overall association of long working hours with adverse health outcomes is modest (Ervasti et al., 2021). However, as the prevalence of long working hours is so large that the impact on health problems cannot be ignored (Li and Siegrist, 2021). During the pandemic of COVID-19, overwork of essential workers has become a big issue. Working from home (tele-working) is also considered to lead to long working hours. Long working hours may lead to morbidity through both exposure of adverse working conditions and loss of necessary leisure time activities. The adverse working conditions include hazardous factors including psychosocial stress. Activities lost due to long working hours are healthy behaviours such as physical activities and sleep. The most important function dur-
ing leisure time is to provide the time for recovery. Long working hours have been shown to affect both quantity and quality of sleep: which prevent recovery and influence hormonal regulations. Based on the Karoshi Prevention Measures Promotion Law, the Japanese Cabinet decided "Outline of Measures to Prevent Death from Overwork" in 2018 and revised it in 2021. The outline stipulates various measures to prevent Karoshi by taking into consideration anticipated work-style changes that going with the spread of the new coronavirus disease. According to this new outline, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan will continue to work on the measures toward the realization of “zero Karoshi” society in cooperation with related ministries and agencies. Karoshi cannot be prevented by reducing working hours alone. Research pointed out that the impact of long working hours on health problems was larger among workers of lower socioeconomic status than those of higher socioeconomic status (Li et al., 2020). Business practices and general consumption behaviours may also be related to working hours. To prevent Karoshi, continuous and
multi-faceted efforts, including increased public understanding, are
necessary.

Akizumi Tsutsumi

Elsevier Korea LLC

January 2022

Sri Wahyuni

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Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022