23/01/2007
Long hours and longer working lives in developed countries is leading to greater lifetime exposures to health and safety risks, a paper in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine has warned. Finnish researchers estimate there are about 2 million work-related deaths annually, with the biggest categories of work-related diseases now cancers, circulatory diseases and communicable diseases. Men suffer two thirds of those deaths. In developing countries, work exposures may start in infancy, the authors say. Due to industrialisation, workers in these countries are facing new conditions without the relevant knowledge and skills to minimise risks.

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