48 working hours per week are harmful to health

Permanent overtime can make you sick

04.11.2012

It is not uncommon for employees to work longer than 48 hours a week, for example, to complete an appointment project. Those who regularly work more than 40 hours a week can quickly suffer from health problems. Gastrointestinal complaints or feelings of stress increase significantly. The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health points to this.
Working hours of more than 40 hours a week can endanger health, according to occupational physicians. Therefore, workers who work 48 hours a week or more should receive a timely compensatory allowance, such as the expert on working hours, Frank Brenscheidt, from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the news agency „dpa“ said. If employees have to work overtime for more than 40 hours per week, evaluation shows that health problems such as stomach problems, bowel problems or stress syndromes increase significantly. However, a short break after overtime can provide compensation.

Overtime in mass accumulate the wrong way
Accumulating overtime is the wrong way, according to Brendscheidt. It is also important that for employees, that overtime is predictable. „When extending your working life you should pay much more attention to the design“, warned the expert. However, there is no such thing as an optimal solution in the form of positive working time models in the drawer. The models must always be negotiated between the parties on the spot.

However, a very flexible model is trust work time. Employees can decide for themselves when they come and go. The total working time is transferred to the project work. „De work is defined by goals such as project work“, reports the working time expert. With this model, employers would rarely be disappointed. In return, workers would have to be careful not to take on their work. Often, trust time is used in the IT industry.

Another option is flextime models with a traffic light. These working time models are especially suitable for the masses. For example, if an employee has accumulated more than 50 hours of overtime, there is an indication that the traffic light turns yellow. If more than 50 hours are reached, the traffic light turns red and the employee must reduce the additional work by means of time off.

Flexitime models are often hardly possible in shift work. Here the employers could counteract with shift exchange or Springer forces. This gives the colleagues a quick relief. „Never more than three night shifts in a row“, advises the expert. So-called forward rotations from the early to the late shift with as much leisure time as possible after the night shifts are useful. It is very important, „To involve workers in the organization of working time“. In some sectors, overtime does not make sense at all. These include the steelworkers, for whom overtime should be out of the question if possible. (Sb)

Image: Benjamin Thorn