Health risk at the workplace

London, Sept 03: Two new studies conducted by scientists at Sweden and the UK have found that people in some jobs are at increased risk of workplace accidents and many ran the risk of becoming deaf because of loud noise at work.
Dr Torbjorn Akerstedt and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm surveyed more than 5,000 workers from 40 companies in central Sweden. They found that seven per cent fell asleep unintentionally during work several times each month. However, 23 percent fell asleep unintentionally during their leisure time.

Dr Akerstedt's study revealed that young men and people in senior clerical positions were most likely to fall asleep on the job which is the cause of many workplace accidents, according to a report in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

"High level white collar workers showed an increased risk. The results suggest that night shift work in particular presents a danger of involuntary sleep and night work has been associated with increased accident risk," they added.

Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Southampton have found evidence that more people may lose their hearing as a result of their jobs. Their survey of more than 22,000 workers across Britain found that two percent suffer severe hearing difficulties.

The researchers estimated that the figure suggests that as many as 179,000 people across the country have similar problems. The majority of these, they believe, are men. The authors have predicted that the overall number of people whose hearing has been affected by their jobs could be even higher.

The findings highlighted the need for companies to ensure employees were not exposed to high noise levels at work. "Our observations highlight the public health impact of occupational exposure to noise and the need for close attention to prevention measures," the researchers conclude. Bureau Report