HEALTH AND SAFETY PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH LONG WORKING HOURS - A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT POSITION

The European Community Directive on Working Time, which should have be en implemented in member states of the European Community by November 1996, contains several requirements related to working hours, includin g the right of employees to refuse to work more than 48 hours a week. The United Kingdom government attempted to oppose the Directive, argui ng that there is no convincing evidence that hours of work should be l imited on health and safety grounds. Much of the research in this area has focused on the problems of shiftworking and previous reviews have therefore tended to emphasise this aspect of working hours. However, there is much less information about the effects of overtime work, whi ch is a central element of the terms of the Directive. This paper revi ews the current evidence relating to the potential effects on health a nd performance of extensions to the normal working day. Several gaps i n the literature are identified, Research to date has been restricted to a limited range of health outcomes-namely, mental health and cardio vascular disorders. Other potential effects which are normally associa ted with stress-for example, gastrointestinal disorders, musculoskelet al disorders, and problems associated with depression of the immune sy stem, have received Little attention. Also, there have been few system atic investigations of performance effects, and little consideration o f the implications for occupational exposure limits of extensions to t he working day. Existing data relate largely to situations where worki ng hours exceed 50 a week and there is a lack of information on hours below this level, which is of direct relevance to the European Communi ty proposal. Finally, it is clear from investigations relating to shif twork that a range of modifying factors are likely to influence the le vel and nature of health and performance outcomes. These include the a ttitudes and motivation of the people concerned, the job requirements, and other aspects of the organisational and cultural climate. It is c oncluded that there is currently sufficient evidence to raise concerns about the risks to health and safety of long working hours, However, much more work is required to define the level and nature of those ris ks.