Japan Press Weekly

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2017 June 28 - July 4 [LABOR]

Number of workers recognized as suffering from work-induced mental illnesses hovering

The Labor Ministry on June 30 announced that in FY 2016, a record number of 498 workers were officially recognized as having developed work-related mental health problems.

The figure surpassed 400 for five consecutive years. Of the 498, 84 workers committed or attempted suicide because of overwork or excessive workplace stress, which was the 4th highest number ever.

By age groups, of those who suffered from work-induced mental problems last year, those in their 20s totaled 107, up 20 from the previous year and those in their late teens totaled 9, up 7. Among the 107 workers in their 20s, the number of suicide or attempted suicide cases went up to 22 from 14 a year earlier. These include a high-profile case in which a female employee of the major advertisement agency Dentsu, Takahashi Matsuri, killed herself in December 2015 due to overwork.

By type of industries, 91 workers worked at manufacturing companies, 80 worked at medical institutions or nursing-care providers, and 57 at wholesale or retail businesses.

On the other hand, apart from mental health problems, the number of employees whose cardiovascular or cerebral illnesses were recognized as work-related increased by nine from FY 2015 to 260 in FY 2016. Of them, those who died totaled 107, 11 more than the previous year.