“過勞死”威脅職場安全

On April 23， 2014，Japan Partisan Parliamentary Union held a meeting to discuss the institutionalization of the countermeasures against “karoshi” and “suicides caused by over-fatigue” as the death toll caused by “karoshi” remains very high. In Japan， about 10，000 people die of “karoshi” every year. According to the survey statistics of the WHO， in US， UK， Japan， and Australia， “karoshi” is somewhat popular. At present， more and more young people and social elites are under the threat of “karoshi”. It becomes an issue we have to face seriously. Is “karoshi” a disease or a poison？ Why can it kill people mysteriously？

2014年4月23日，日本超黨派議員聯盟舉行會談，商討把預防“過勞死”和“過勞自殺”的對策法制化。之所以有此舉措，是由于近年來日本“過勞死”、“過勞自殺”的人數居高不下。在日本，每年約有1萬人因“過勞”而猝死。根據世界衛生組織調查統計，在美國、英國、日本、澳大利亞等地都有“過勞死”流行率記載。在中國，每年因“過勞”死亡的人數多達60萬人。如今，當越來越多的青年人、社會精英因其受到死亡的威脅時，“過勞死”這一概念成為人們不得不認真面對的問題。“過勞死”究竟是疾病？還是毒藥？它何以能致人于死地呢？

The origin of “Karoshi”

“過勞死”溯源

“Karoshi” came from Japanese and emerged in 1970-1980 when Japan’s economy was booming. It refers to the “sub-health” condition caused by long working time， overwork， and excessive psychological pressure. However， ingrained habits cannot be cast off overnight. The potential risks of the human body can be triggered anytime， and once the medical treatment is not timely， human life is endangered.

In the recent 15 years， “karoshi” was officially adopted by the medical community. “‘Karoshi’ is not a disease， nor a clinical term. It belongs to the scope of social medicine. The patients of ‘karoshi’ all have some sort of fundamental diseases， such as coronary disease， hypertension， and cerebrovascular malformation. ‘karoshi’ is usually caused by the untimely and inappropriate treatment of the fundamental diseases ， plus the self-ignorance of healthy condition. Working pressure， over-fatigue， and stress response are usually ‘the last straw to break the camel’”， said the Vice Professor of the Emergency Department of Xiangya No.2 Hospital， Central South University， Chai Xiangping.

“過勞死”源自日語Karoshi，最早出現于二十世紀七八十年代的日本經濟繁榮時期。意指因為工作時間過長，勞動強度過重，心理壓力過大，從而出現精疲力盡的“亞健康”狀態。往往由于積重難返，將突然引發身體潛在的疾病急性惡化，一旦救治不及時便危及生命。

直到近15年來，“過勞死”一詞才被醫學界正式命名。“‘過勞死’并不是一種病，也不是臨床醫學病名，而是屬于社會醫學范疇。‘過勞死’患者必然都有基礎疾病，如冠心病、高血壓、腦血管畸形等。‘過勞死’大多是對原有疾病沒有進行正確或及時治療，再加上自己對身體癥狀的輕視或忽視，最終釀成慘劇。工作壓力、過度勞累、緊張應激只是壓垮駱駝的最后一根稻草。”中南大學湘雅二醫院急診科柴湘平副教授表示。

In order to let the public understand this term better， experts compare human body to a spring and the fatigue is external force. When the fatigue exceeds the limit or lasts for too long， the spring of human body will be deformed permanently， which leads to the reduction of immunity， ageing， exhaustion， and even death. Relevant data show that the five diseases that cause “karoshi” directly are， in order： coronary artery disease， aortic aneurysm， valvular disease， myocardiosis， and cerebral hemorrhage. Apart from those， digestive system diseases， renal failure， and infectious diseases can also lead to “karoshi”.

Chinese media used to report the “karoshi” of white-collar class in Japan in 1980s from the perspective of bystanders. However， they didn’t realize that “karoshi” can expand to China like a plague.

為了讓公眾更好的理解該詞，專家將人的身體比喻為一個彈簧，而勞累就是外力。當勞累超過極限或持續時間過長時，身體這個彈簧就會發生永久變形，免疫力大大下降，導致老化、衰竭甚至死亡。相關資料表明，直接促成“過勞死”的5種疾病依次為：冠狀動脈疾病、主動脈瘤、心瓣膜病、心肌病和腦出血。除此以外，消化系統疾病、腎衰竭、感染性疾病也會導致“過勞死”。

對于20世紀80年代時期日本白領階層的“過勞死”現象，中國媒體曾經以旁觀者的姿態大量報道過。然而，未曾想“過勞死”就如同瘟疫一般，迅速蔓延到中國職場。

China becomes the largest victim of “karoshi”

中國成“過勞死”第一大國

Last year， a world well-known office solutions provider -- Regus released survey data， which reflect that China is the most stressful country in the world. Among 16，000 professionals from 80 countries who believed the pressure in this year is heavier than that of last year， mainland China was at the first place by 75%. It was much higher than the global average 48%； Hong Kong took up 55%， ranked the fourth； Shanghai， Beijing also ranked in the front by 80% and 67% respectively. The first three reasons of over-fatigue were “work”， “personal financial situation”， and “pressure from the boss” in the survey. In many industries， practitioners of manufacture， finance， education， media， and law were the top five of health overdraft. The huge work pressure made China become the biggest victim of “karoshi” -- the death toll caused by “karoshi” reached 600，000.

去年，一家世界知名辦公方案提供商——雷格斯發布的一項統計數據顯示，中國是目前世界上壓力最大的國家。在全球80個國家和地區的1.6萬名職場人士中，認為壓力高于去年的，中國大陸位居首位，占到75%，這大大超出全球的平均值48%；香港地區占55%，位列第四；上海、北京更以80%、67%排在其他城市前列。對于導致壓力過大的原因，“工作”、“個人經濟狀況”、“來自老板的壓力”排在調查結果的前三位。在諸多行業中，制造、金融、教育、媒體、法律從業者對健康的透支情況位居前五位。巨大的工作壓力導致中國超越了日本，成為“過勞死”第一大國——每年“過勞死”的人數達60萬人。這樣算來，中國每天約超過1600人因勞累引發疾病而離開人世。

“Karoshi” targets on youths and elites

“過勞死”盯向青年、精英

At 10： 29 a.m.， February 17， 2014， 35-year-old administrative staff of IBM in Shenzhen Liang Yan fell on the steps of Exit C of Shenzhen Subway Shuiwan Station. This was another shocking case of young white-collar’s sudden death after the previous case of Pan Jie， a junior auditor from Price Waterhouse Coopers. However， there are more cases like those.

On April 8， 2005， CEO of Ericsson （China） Co.， Ltd Yang Mai died of sudden cardiac arrest， at the age of 54.

On June 25， 2011， 23-year-old employee of Foxconn Chen Long died suddenly in shower.

In November， 2011， Lin Haitao， who had worked in Baidu Company for only 4 month， died of cardiac failure.

On May 15， 2013， a 24-year-old employee of a game information website affiliated to SOHU died of heart attack on his way to work.

……

2014年2月17日上午10點29分，35歲的IBM深圳公司管理人員梁婭倒在深圳地鐵蛇口線水灣站C出口的臺階上。這是繼普華永道上海辦事處的初級審計員潘潔猝死之后，又一個轟動一時的都市年輕白領突然死亡的案例。然而，員工的突然死亡遠非這一兩個案例。

2004年4月8日，愛立信（中國）有限公司總裁楊邁由于心臟驟停突然逝世，享年54歲。

2011年6月25日，富士康的23歲員工陳龍于洗澡時猝死。

2011年11月，在百度公司上崗僅四個月的林海韜因心臟衰竭而亡。

2013年5月15日，一名就職于搜狐旗下一家游戲資訊網站的24歲員工在上班途中突發心臟疾病去世。

……

Cheng Qing， a doctor in the Emergency Department of Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Region， said frankly that 10 years ago， sudden deaths usually happened to middle-aged or elder people who were over 50. However， in recent years， as the living pressure of people is increasing， sudden deaths happened to youth a lot more often. In 1998， about 80 youths’ sudden deaths were transferred and treated by Beijing “120”. In 2011， this number reached 270， increasing by 3.375 times， with 25% up in average every year. The general survey of Chinese youth’s physical conditions shows that， at present， 82.2% of people are in or near the state of “over-fatigue”； 66.8% of people said they had experienced sorts of indispositions and in a state of “sub-health”； 78.6% of people have come across or heard of some incurable diseases or sudden deaths happen to their young friends， colleagues or peers； only 3.6% of people had never had any conditions of “sub-health”； only 7.8% of people didn’t have signs of any kind of disease； and only 21.1% of people were satisfied with their current physical and psychological health.

The sudden deaths of people who are still in adolescence or golden age of career are due to “karoshi”. Although it’s still controversial， it’s still worth our attention that they all overworked and bear excessive working pressure before they died.

對此，廣州軍區武漢總醫院急診科程青坦言，十年前，醫院接診的猝死者幾乎都是50歲以上的中老年人。但近幾年，隨著人們生活壓力的加大，年輕人猝死的越來越多。1998 年，北京120轉運救治的青年猝死者只有80多名。而到了2011年，這一數字已經上升為270多名，13年時間上升了3.375倍，平均每年上升25%。中國中青年人身體健康狀況大調查數據顯示，目前，82.2%人已處于或正接近“過勞”狀態；66.8%表示自己身體有各種各樣的毛病或是正處于“亞健康”狀態；78.6%的人在近一年來碰到或聽說過有年輕親朋、同事或同行得了不治之癥或猝死；僅3.6%的人從未出現過任何“亞健康”狀況；僅7.8%的人沒有任何疾病或疾病征兆；只有21.1%的人對自己目前的身心健康狀況感到滿意。

對于那些處于青年期或事業黃金期的人突然死亡，很多人在扼腕嘆息之余將其歸結為“過勞死”。盡管有人對此存有爭議，但值得注意的是，他們在離世之前，都曾有過工作時間過長、勞動強度過重、工作壓力過大、身心都在透支等經歷。