Every year 3000 people die prematurely due to work-related diseases
According to Arbetsmiljöverket, (the Swedish Work Environment Authority), work-related illnesses and unhealthy work environments result in around 3,000 deaths each year. Risk factors are, for example, long-term exposures to stress through unhealthy workloads, shift work, dust, asbestos, quartz, engine exhaust, passive smoking, noise and persistent physically demanding work.
In order to prevent ill health in the workplace, employers should carry out systematic work environment work and actively work with risk measures.
Job stress causes roughly 700 deaths each year – the number is expected to rise
All people deal with stress in different ways, some seem to be stress-resistant and twice as efficient as other colleagues in the workplace, but in the long run this is a way of working that is downright harmful. In Arbetsmiljöverkets report, it appears that roughly 700 people die each year as a result of job stress, and that this is a number that is expected to rise in the future.
Job stress is often caused by a high workload, and it is therefore important that managers and management take responsibility for creating a good work environment.
Women are more likely to experience negative stress compared to men. Of those who participated in the 2021 work environment survey, 33 percent of women stated that they experienced work-related stress, compared to 25 percent of men. The report shows that 1 in 10 in Swedish workplaces are subjected to offensive discrimination. In a healthy organizational and social work environment, people should not become ill due to unhealthy workloads or abusive discrimination at work.
Prevent ill-health at your workplace - promote good long-term employee health
As an employer, you can prevent ill health at your workplace and among employees by:
- promote and create a good working environment free from violations smoking and unhealthy workload
- work for an active and healthy lifestyle through, for example, wellness grants, exercise during working hours and fruit and vegetables in the lunchroom
- offer employees regular health check-ups that can detect potential health problems at an early stage, which in turn allows action to be taken before health problems worsen
- as part of your company health care, offer regular health checks and thereby increase the efficiency of both the company and the employee as any deficiencies can be detected at an early stage with the possibility of preventing any illness.
