Working long hours damages your health

[Brainaddict]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4160358.stm

And in other news, bears really do shit in the woods. Still, this study has quantified the risk:

"Workers who do overtime were 61% more likely to become hurt or ill, once factors such as age and gender were taken into account.

And working more than 12 hours a day raised the risk by more than a third, the University of Massachusetts found. "

HA HA HA, all those nasty suits are going to DIE YOUNG!

 

[SwizzleStiX]

After about ten its too much anyway

 

[FiFi]

Another study from the students at the "Faculty of the B******g Obvious"

I've been reading reports that say this sort of thing since I was a student 18yrs ago.

 

[Cloo]

What I didn't know until recently, that backs up what I've always thought, is that research has show that longer hours = lower productivity.

It does frustrate me that there seems to be this cycle of acquiesence where people work long hours when they don't need to because they think it will impress someone above them when it may not even do so. I suspect so many people could work so much less if they just asked their bosses 'Would you think any less of me if I worked my hours most days?' because I'm sure loads of managers would say 'No, I wouldn't mind at all as long as your work is good'.

 

[marco mark]

What I didn't know until recently, that backs up what I've always thought, is that research has show that longer hours = lower productivity.

It does frustrate me that there seems to be this cycle of acquiesence where people work long hours when they don't need to because they think it will impress someone above them when it may not even do so. I suspect so many people could work so much less if they just asked their bosses 'Would you think any less of me if I worked my hours most days?' because I'm sure loads of managers would say 'No, I wouldn't mind at all as long as your work is good'.

This has been my argument here for years but nobody listens, i work 8-10 hours a day x 7 days a week, it f**king kills you, and you dont have the energy to do anything 100% most of the time

 

[Cloo]

Well, if anyone were to challenge me over *shock* actually taking about an hour for my lunch, my reply would be that I will not work effectively without a reasonable break in the middle of the day.

 

[Pingu]

i once suffered blackouts and as hooked up to a machine that went ping.. and a portable herat monitor for a couple of weeks.

turns out ot was the 70 hour weeks i was working that was making me ill.

not just tired but ill


I try never to work more than 50 hours a week now and if i do i always take time off to chill out and recuperate

i wont let anyone who works for us work more than 40 hours a week unless they can convince me that its really really necesary. If its that important and time is tight then we put more people on rather that making the same people work longer.

 

[Cloo]

I was really saddened to read a post on some other boards from a girl whose boyfriend never seemed to see her lately because he was 'working a 60 hour week' in order to get a promotion.

I asked her if he knew he'd get a promotion from this and she said, no, but he missed out on one before and was gutted, and that he was a bit of a pushover. Now I'm betting he hadn't spoken to his line manager about how to get that promotion, or if he did I'd be most surprised if he was told 'Oh, you'll get it if you work 12 hour days'. Why can't people use their common sense? If I were after a promotion I would make it clear I wanted it and ask the person concerned in giving it what they needed, I wouldn't just assume working myself to death will be impressive.

 

[Brainaddict]

when I signed up to my temp agency they gave me the option of saying whether or not I would be prepared to work more than a 40 hour week. they looked a bit surprised and slightly miffed when I ticked 'no' Stupid fuckers obviously didn't realise that the reason I do office temping is cos I can walk out the office at 5pm and forget it all.

 

[Jangla]

The article says they looked at data upto and including 2000 - what's the point in presenting stats when your data is 5 years out of date!?

 

[Brainaddict]

The article says they looked at data upto and including 2000 - what's the point in presenting stats when your data is 5 years out of date!?

Do you think working long hours suddenly became healthy in that time?

Sometimes it takes a long time for stats to be collected and collated - particularly for a scientific investigation. More recent data might not have been available.

 

[Jangla]

No, it's just that saying there's a 23% increase in the likelihood of getting ill if you work a 60 hours week, for example, is pointless as that figure is no longer true.

I know it takes time to collate data but 5 years old, in this context at least, is I feel, a little too stale - especially when it's for a study of something so obvious.

 

[Brainaddict]

No, it's just that saying there's a 23% increase in the likelihood of getting ill if you work a 60 hours week, for example, is pointless as that figure is no longer true.

DOn't understand why that would change in so short a time. If the nature of working changed significantly (e.g. more technological or more manual) then those figures would change but it hasn't in the last five years.

 

[Cloo]

It's ironic to think how everyone used to be all 'Yes, computers will mean we can do less work'. Yeah, like managers were going to say, 'We've gone automated, we can all go home at 2pm' rather than 'Great, we can get 5 times as much work done now'

 

[Donna Ferentes]

It was very commonly believed thirty or more years ago though. It was all going to be more leisure, holidays to other planets...

 

[Donna Ferentes]

HA HA HA, all those nasty suits are going to DIE YOUNG!

In fact, it won't be the suits who die young. It'll be the people who work for the suits.

 

[rennie]

like me.

 

[Hollis]

In fact, it won't be the suits who die young. It'll be the people who work for the suits.

I dunno.. there was a 43 year old finance director of ICI who dropped dead last week.

 

[Choc]

that is definitely true no need for research. when you are tired it is so much easier to hurt yourself. plus really important managers and high profilers often die just like that which defnitely wasn't old age, or develop a stomach ulcer or other stress related conditions.

on the contrary i think it is not very healthy not to work either because one has so much time on their hand to constantly go to the pup etc ie taking more healthrisks in the plentyful leisure time to help stay amused..

i have both sides. work shit lods vs hardly at all

 

[Cloo]

It was very commonly believed thirty or more years ago though. It was all going to be more leisure, holidays to other planets...

And don't forget commuting by jetpack.

 

[JWH]

HA HA HA, all those nasty suits are going to DIE YOUNG!

It's not suits that are gonna be stabbing themselves with abbatoir knives, crashing delivery vans or falling off building sites, dippy.

 

[oryx]

when I signed up to my temp agency they gave me the option of saying whether or not I would be prepared to work more than a 40 hour week. they looked a bit surprised and slightly miffed when I ticked 'no' Stupid fuckers obviously didn't realise that the reason I do office temping is cos I can walk out the office at 5pm and forget it all.

Same here. I think it's an opt-out clause for a 48 hour week, actually. I was tempted to say to the guy from the agency that I am about as likely to work a 48 hour week as to become Prime Minister.

Has anyone else noticed that a lot of people who work mad hours fail to actually achieve anything most of the time? I've worked with dozens of people who work themselves to the point of martyrdom but fail to move anything forward.

 

[Cloo]

My bro has had to discipline a guy in his department for being in the office too much! He said it's quite a sad situation, cos the bloke is clearly trying to avoid rough circumstances at home, but they seriously worry about his health.

 

[Pingu]

and if you think its bad over here try japan


...


a country where its frowned upon if you actually take any of your 5 days anual holiday.. or work less than a 50 hour week.


they even have a word in the language for working yourself to death....

 

[Brainaddict]

and if you think its bad over here try japan


...


a country where its frowned upon if you actually take any of your 5 days anual holiday.. or work less than a 50 hour week.


they even have a word in the language for working yourself to death....

I know - I've talked to Japanese people about this and just stared in incomprehension when they explained how much they work. I wonder if it will change with time?

 

[Brainaddict]

also - does it actually make japanese people more productive? now that would be a very interesting study indeed - do japanese people achieve more at work than a Westerner in an equivalent job who works similarly long hours?

 

[Choc]

i don't know about japanese...but certainly a german would....because they have such things as orderlyness and efficiency...thanks god! plus breaks are holy and you mostly get one over there...as well.

 

[Brainaddict]

i don't know about japanese...but certainly a german would....because they have such things as orderlyness and efficiency...thanks god! plus breaks are holy and you mostly get one over there...as well.

LOL

 

[wiskey]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4160358.stmAnd working more than 12 hours a day raised the risk by more than a third, the University of Massachusetts found. "

HA HA HA, all those nasty suits are going to DIE YOUNG!

fantastic. i work 12 hour days as do most other emerg services.

 

[Pingu]

i don't know about japanese...but certainly a german would....because they have such things as orderlyness and efficiency...thanks god! plus breaks are holy and you mostly get one over there...as well.

afore ye go down the german efficency route...


here is a wee tale.

I worked on a very larger datacebtre project in hamburg. one day something went wrong with a bit of kit called a shasta. this is a rare thing and there are not many people who know how to fix one. So we arranged for someone from Nortel (for it was they who supported the kit) to fly in from Canada.

He duely arrived at the datacentre but because the datacentre access list took 2 days to filter to the security guard they wouldnt let him in. Even when the programme director went to the gate to vouch for him they refused. So off he popped back to Canada.

also

the site premises manager who was a bit trigger happy on the parking in unauthorised places who had his own car towed...


very efficient yes but sometimes (in ceratin cases anyhow) not capable of thinking laterally or using initiative too much.