Working hard can kill you

tsk1979 · 21st August 2013, 12:01

Remember the quote

Quote:

It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?

Well now we have a candidate.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8775917.html

Working too hard can actually kill you. So all the workaholics... be careful!

manasm · 21st August 2013, 12:30

This is fairly common in Investment Banks in London. I used to be with ML in St Paul before BofA took them over - and while I was there, we had one person collapse from exhaustion. They hushed the whole thing up and paid a lot of money to the kid to keep him happy and in recovery.

It is not just the working hours that does this to them though. They indulge in late night parties and lots of drug cocktails to keep them going through the long work hours and parties. I know first hand.

Shiv_1984 · 21st August 2013, 12:41

Who cares ? Is there any way an institution can be blamed for this ? Is there a way someone can proove in the court of law that the person succumbed to a torturous career?

As long as there is no accountability, no one cares.

RaSing · 21st August 2013, 17:00

Only a day back we had the same discussion in our office . This is getting common across many private sectors now. I am in IT and when i was there in Taiwan in 2012 i heard of one employee dying in office . That was a semiconductor manufacturing company. My colleagues there told me that this is getting common now and another employee of a well known Mobile Phone manufacturing company died in office due to long working hours.

Ford5 · 21st August 2013, 19:36

A bit OT. Not only working hard. Even playing console games for too long can make you drop dead. Japan, China and also Korea have several such cases.

motomaverick · 22nd August 2013, 11:31

Working may kill so would "Hardly Working"

But its sad to see that he was just an intern. But may be as manasm mentioned, it has to involve habits as well. Long hours, parties, no or less sleep. After all our bodies are machines, someday they conk out.

blackasta · 22nd August 2013, 13:23

Similar working hours exist in Indian IT companies. I personally have experienced something similar in my early days as an employee.

Arch-Angel · 22nd August 2013, 14:19

@Blackasta
Same here, i had a 14 hour shift on one day and as long as that doesn't continue, i think it will not do much harm. I think the optimal working hours should be 6 hours at max excluding breaks.

I think that working hours need to regularized for all companies by regularize i mean to make it even on a similar scale with a fixed number of hours an employee must put in. I think that will make things better.

vasudeva · 22nd August 2013, 14:41

Just google/wiki on Karoshi.

one-77 · 22nd August 2013, 22:13

Hmm.. If this were true, no intern or resident doctor in a government medical college in India would complete their terms alive.

fais123 · 23rd August 2013, 01:55

I am also from IT, and this happened in our team one year ago. We were in long discussions, but never knew our mate was living his final hours. The shocking news came on morning, just 5-6 hours after our last meeting.

SmartCat · 23rd August 2013, 10:09

Working hard has never killed anybody. But not getting enough sleep has.

roy_libran · 23rd August 2013, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat

Working hard has never killed anybody. But not getting enough sleep has.

Mostly true, but do consider that in many organizations the working hours, extend up to a point that they infringe upon ones' sleep hours!

When I was previously working for a company that used to do most of it's business with US customers, I have been expected numerous times to join meetings with customers at say 3 a.m. IST, and that when the regular working hours were 9 to 6. I know I am not alone there!

tsk1979 · 23rd August 2013, 11:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by one-77

Hmm.. If this were true, no intern or resident doctor in a government medical college in India would complete their terms alive.

I wonder how many patients died because the 48 hour shift doctor was not alert enough... Your your premise is false. Just like an overworked bus driver can kill others, so can an overworked doctor.
NHS in UK even put forward some guidelines to this effect when it found severe lapses in treatment due to overwork.

Naturalist · 23rd August 2013, 11:43

My opinion is after 6 hours of productive work, any additional hours of work how much ever you put will be non productive. Especially if we work in early mornings become really productive.
One of my female colleague fainted and was taken to hospital and her bp was too low. That week she had a tight deadline to complete. It was all related.

21st August 2013, 12:30	#2
manasm BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 300 Thanked: 180 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you This is fairly common in Investment Banks in London. I used to be with ML in St Paul before BofA took them over - and while I was there, we had one person collapse from exhaustion. They hushed the whole thing up and paid a lot of money to the kid to keep him happy and in recovery. It is not just the working hours that does this to them though. They indulge in late night parties and lots of drug cocktails to keep them going through the long work hours and parties. I know first hand.
	() Thanks

21st August 2013, 12:41	#3
Shiv_1984 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Stuttgart, DE Posts: 336 Thanked: 233 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you Who cares ? Is there any way an institution can be blamed for this ? Is there a way someone can proove in the court of law that the person succumbed to a torturous career? As long as there is no accountability, no one cares.
	() Thanks

21st August 2013, 17:00	#4
RaSing BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Delhi Posts: 180 Thanked: 204 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you Only a day back we had the same discussion in our office . This is getting common across many private sectors now. I am in IT and when i was there in Taiwan in 2012 i heard of one employee dying in office . That was a semiconductor manufacturing company. My colleagues there told me that this is getting common now and another employee of a well known Mobile Phone manufacturing company died in office due to long working hours.
	() Thanks

21st August 2013, 19:36	#5
Ford5 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 500 Thanked: 338 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you A bit OT. Not only working hard. Even playing console games for too long can make you drop dead. Japan, China and also Korea have several such cases.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2013, 11:31	#6
motomaverick Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,898 Thanked: 989 Times View My Garage	Re: Working hard can kill you Working may kill so would "Hardly Working" But its sad to see that he was just an intern. But may be as manasm mentioned, it has to involve habits as well. Long hours, parties, no or less sleep. After all our bodies are machines, someday they conk out.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2013, 13:23	#7
blackasta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: WB 26 Posts: 3,406 Thanked: 2,917 Times View My Garage	Re: Working hard can kill you Similar working hours exist in Indian IT companies. I personally have experienced something similar in my early days as an employee.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2013, 14:19	#8
Arch-Angel BHPian Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Chn(Atrocity) Posts: 553 Thanked: 285 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you @Blackasta Same here, i had a 14 hour shift on one day and as long as that doesn't continue, i think it will not do much harm. I think the optimal working hours should be 6 hours at max excluding breaks. I think that working hours need to regularized for all companies by regularize i mean to make it even on a similar scale with a fixed number of hours an employee must put in. I think that will make things better.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2013, 14:41	#9
vasudeva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 2,221 Thanked: 212 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you Just google/wiki on Karoshi.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2013, 22:13	#10
one-77 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: KL11 Posts: 475 Thanked: 657 Times View My Garage	Re: Working hard can kill you Hmm.. If this were true, no intern or resident doctor in a government medical college in India would complete their terms alive.
	() Thanks

23rd August 2013, 01:55	#11
fais123 Newbie Join Date: May 2013 Location: Calicut/Kochi Posts: 5 Thanked: 3 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you I am also from IT, and this happened in our team one year ago. We were in long discussions, but never knew our mate was living his final hours. The shocking news came on morning, just 5-6 hours after our last meeting.
	() Thanks

23rd August 2013, 10:09	#12
SmartCat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,422 Thanked: 42,887 Times View My Garage	Re: Working hard can kill you Working hard has never killed anybody. But not getting enough sleep has.
	() Thanks

23rd August 2013, 11:43	#15
Naturalist BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 90 Thanked: 37 Times	Re: Working hard can kill you My opinion is after 6 hours of productive work, any additional hours of work how much ever you put will be non productive. Especially if we work in early mornings become really productive. One of my female colleague fainted and was taken to hospital and her bp was too low. That week she had a tight deadline to complete. It was all related.
	() Thanks