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BackgroundWorld Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) systematic reviews reported sufficient evidence for higher risks of ischemic heart disease and stroke amongst people working long hours (≥55 hours/week), compared with people working standard hours (35-40 hours/week). This article presents WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of global, regional, and national exposure to long working hours, for 194 countries, and the attributable burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke, for 183 countries, by sex and age, for 2000, 2010, and 2016.Methods and findingsWe calculated population-attributable fractions from estimates of the population exposed to long working hours and relative risks of exposure on the diseases from the systematic reviews. The exposed population was modelled using data from 2324 cross-sectional surveys and 1742 quarterly survey datasets. Attributable disease burdens were estimated by applying the population-attributable fractions to WHO's Global Health Estimates of total disease burdens.ResultsIn 2016, 488 million people (95% uncertainty range: 472-503 million), or 8.9% (8.6-9.1) of the global population, were exposed to working long hours (≥55 hours/week). An estimated 745,194 deaths (705,786-784,601) and 23.3 million disability-adjusted life years (22.2-24.4) from ischemic heart disease and stroke combined were attributable to this exposure. The population-attributable fractions for deaths were 3.7% (3.4-4.0) for ischemic heart disease and 6.9% for stroke (6.4-7.5); for disability-adjusted life years they were 5.3% (4.9-5.6) for ischemic heart disease and 9.3% (8.7-9.9) for stroke.ConclusionsWHO and ILO estimate exposure to long working hours (≥55 hours/week) is common and causes large attributable burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke. Protecting and promoting occupational and workers' safety and health requires interventions to reduce hazardous long working hours.

Objectives To document the work situation, the work ability and the expectation of returning to work among adult patients with systemic autoimmune myopathies (SAMs), and to identify the factors associated with each of these outcomes. Methods Cross-sectional study. The work situation (performing paid work vs out of work) was ascertained via a structured questionnaire. For those who were working, we applied the Work Ability Index (WAI; scale 7–49); and for those who were out of work, we applied the Return-to-Work Self-Efficacy questionnaire (RTW-SE; scale 11–66). Results Of the 75 patients with SAMs included, 33 (44%) were doing paid work and 42 (56%) were out of work. The work situation was independently associated with physical function, assessed by the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI). A 1-point increase in the HAQ-DI (scale 0–3) decreased the chance of doing paid work by 66% (95% CI: 0.16, 0.74; P  = 0.007). Patients performing paid work had a mean WAI of 33.5 (6.9). The following variables were associated with a decrease in the WAI score in the regression model: female sex (−5.04), diabetes (−5.94), fibromyalgia (−6.40), fatigue (−4.51) and severe anxiety (−4.59). Among those out of work, the mean RTW-SE was 42.8 (12.4). Cutaneous manifestations and >12 years of education were associated with an average increase of 10.57 and 10.9 points, respectively, in the RTW-SE. A 1-point increase in the HAQ-DI decreased the RTW-SE by 4.69 points. Conclusion Our findings highlight the poor work participation in a well-characterized sample of working-age patients with SAMs. Strategies to improve work-related outcomes in these patients are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of occupational injuries and identify their risk factors among students in two municipalities. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in public schools of the municipalities of Santo Antonio do Pinhal and Monteiro Lobato, Brazil. A stratified probabilistic sample was drawn from public middle and high schools of the study municipalities. A total of 781 students aged 11 to 19 years participated in the study. Students attending middle and high school answered a comprehensive questionnaire on living and working conditions, as well as aspects of work injuries, and health conditions. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to estimate risk factors of previous and present occupational injuries. RESULTS: Of 781 students, 604 previously had or currently have jobs and 47% reported previous injuries. Among current workers (n=555), 38% reported injuries on their current job. Risk factors for work injuries with statistically significant odds ratio >2.0 included attending evening school, working as a housekeeper, waiter or brickmaker, and with potentially dangerous machines. CONCLUSIONS: The study results reinforce the need of restricting adolescent work and support communities to implement social promotion programs.

Pela técnica de regressão linear múltipla, estudou-se a relação existente entre pressão arterial diastólica e as variáveis "tempo total acumulado de trabalho como condutor de veículos coletivos urbanos" e "idade", em uma população de 839 motoristas e cobradores, usuários de um serviço de saúde ocupacional da cidade de Campinas, Estado de São Paulo (Brasil). Os principais resultados encontrados foram associação positiva entre a pressão arterial diastólica e o tempo acumulado de trabalho, bem como existência de uma interação entre esta variável e a idade dos condutores.

Com base em revisão bibliográfica discute-se a literatura produzida nas décadas de 70 e 80, no campo da epidemiologia da hipertensão arterial sistêmica entre trabalhadores. Analisa-se não apenas o ponto de vista do conhecimento gerado, mas também os aspectos relacionados ao instrumental teórico-metodológico empregado.

Understanding work ability, with the goal of promoting it, is important for individuals as well as organizations. It is especially important to study work ability in health care workers, who face many work-related challenges that may threaten work ability. We studied various job demands, job resources, and interactions of demands and resources relating to work ability using the Job Demands–Resources model as a framework. Acute care health care workers from six nations (US, Australia, UK, Brazil, Croatia, and Poland) completed a survey. Role demands related to work ability in the Australia sample only, and supervisor support related to work ability in the Australia sample only. Yet, high levels of supervisor support significantly moderated (buffered) negative relationships between physical demands and work ability in the US sample, along with negative relationships between role demands and work ability in both the Croatia and UK samples. Skill discretion related to work ability in every nation sample, and therefore appears to be particularly important to work ability perceptions. In addition, skill discretion moderated (buffered) a negative relationship between role demands and work ability in the Australia sample. We therefore recommend that interventions to help preserve or improve work ability target this important job resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) have promoted the concept of decent work as a Sustainable Development Goal for 2030 to address critical global problems. Occupational safety and health (OSH) are components of decent work, primarily through the ILO social protection objective of the goal, and are linked to various other objectives., Objective: This Commentary applies a previously published staging framework to stimulate thinking about how the OSH field can contribute further to the achievement of decent work., Methods: To advance the contribution of the framework, the different functions of OSH (research, practice, advocacy, governance, and professional education) were used to identify impediments to achieving decent work and develop recommendations for each determinant in the framework., Results: Promoting and achieving decent work are complex issues that require a multifactorial approach. Numerous recommendations supporting systems thinking and transdisciplinary approaches are provided., Conclusions: The OSH field can expand to further address decent work.

Objective: To describe knowledge and practices adopted by high school students to prevent occupational injuries., Study Design: The study was carried out in a public school located in São Paulo, in 2003. Fifty-three evening students aged 14 to 21 years old participated the study, they were divided into two groups with and without job experience (32 and 21 students, respectively). The students answered two questions: "Why do occupational injuries occur?" and "How do you avoid occupational injuries?" Analyses were performed using the software "Quali-quanti" to structure collective discourses. ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSES: Adolescents with work experience reported that occupational injuries occur due to carelessness of the employee, bad luck of the employee, employer's negligence, lack of training, and unsafe workplace. Adolescents without work experience reported that the main causes of work injuries were carelessness of the employee and employer's negligence. Regarding the ways to protect themselves against occupational injuries, both groups reported that: they pay attention (would pay attention) and wear safety equipment (would wear) safety equipment., Conclusions: Adolescents from both groups showed limited knowledge about occupational injuries and prevention methods. Students "blamed the victim" to explain the injuries and considered "paying attention to work" as the best way to protect themselves. These facts showed that the culture of blaming the victim is present since adolescence and probably it is an outcome of a learning process of the society.

Epidemiological studies suggest a relationship between suntanning habits and high risk of melanoma. A literature review was carried out for the period between 1977 and 1998 using Medline and Embase (Excerpta Medica) databases. The analysis showed that intentional sun exposure is highly prevalent among youths, despite their awareness of the risks involved in excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation and their knowledge on skin protection measures. Intentional exposure is a habit fostered by certain beliefs and attitudes towards suntanning and stimulated by peer pressure and aesthetic referents. The most common tanning practices involve a high risk of developing melanoma. It was concluded that the most effective means to prevent melanoma is mass media dissemination of the concept that having a tanned skin is not healthy -- since it implies the skin being damaged by solar ultraviolet radiation -- and education campaigns for effectively changing people's behaviors and their motivations.