WORK SUICIDE
NEWS
Australia:
Trackers ‘drive employees over edge’
Employers are fitting out company vehicles with invasive GPS tracking
systems despite claims the technology unnecessarily invades staff privacy
and contributed to the suicide of a telecommunications engineer last
year. One such tracker, the GoFinder Reporter, sends employers detailed
daily time sheets showing every stop made, parked time, driving time,
distance covered, maximum speed and even an estimate of the amount of
fuel used.
Risks
374
Hazards news, 20 September 2008
Australia:
Depressing text message leads to suicide
The family of Tony Cecere, a 53-year-old Australian worker with a history
of depression who killed himself after being fired, has been awarded
Aus$367,000 (£177,000) in compensation. A judge ruled a text message
calling on him to return his mobile phone and work car triggered an
acute depressive episode leading to his suicide.
News.com.au
• Hazards
suicide webpages
Hazards news, 21 June 2008
Britain:
Inquest told of mother’s work stress
A nurse who was suffering from work-related stress was found dead after
consuming a cocktail of sedatives, an inquest has heard. Statements
read at Michele Wood’s inquest, where the coroner recorded an
open verdict, revealed how the pressures of her job mounted in the days
leading up to her disappearance.
Ipswich
Evening Star • Hazards
suicide webpages • Risks
361
Hazards news, 21 June 2008
Japan:
Toyota acts on deadly overwork
Toyota is taking steps to deal with a corporate culture that been linked
to deaths from overwork. From June, the company is to pay workers overtime
for attending out-of-hours ‘kaizen’ or quality control (QC)
circle meetings - it previously only allowed workers to claim two hours'
overtime a month for such “voluntary” activities.
Asahi
Shimbun • BBC
News Online • More
on karoshi and karojisatsu • Risks
358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008
Britain:
Head teacher ‘suicide’ inquiry call
Relatives of a Scottish head teacher thought to have taken her own life
after a critical school inspection have demanded a fatal accident inquiry.
The death of Irene Hogg, 54, at the end of March follows a spate of
work-related teacher suicides, a number linked to school inspections.
BBC
News Online • The
Times • Daily
Record • Daily
Mail • Scottish
Borders Council tribute page to Irene Hogg • Risks
358
Hazards news, 31 May 2008
Britain:
Stressed BBC worker killed herself
A senior BBC executive has become the latest victim of work-related
suicide. Kari Boto, 53, killed herself after feeling “isolated
and under-supported” in her job, an inquest has heard. She was
found immersed in the sea on 27 June last year - three days before her
BBC contract had been due to expire.
Evening
Star • Mail
on Sunday • Hazards
work-related suicides webpages • Risks
357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008
Britain:
Unhappy work life led to suicide
A Lincolnshire man hanged himself from a tree because he hated his job.
Paul Lilley, 49, drove off to the Fens at Holbeach Marsh on 24 January
after what his daughter Emma described as bullying at work. She said
at one point he had been ill and sent a private letter detailing his
problems, but when he went back to work the whole factory knew about
these problems.
Spalding
Today • Crying
shame: Hazards dossier exposes suicide crisis at work, Hazards
magazine, Number 101, January-March 2008 •
Risks
346
Hazards news, 8 March 2008
Britain:
Warning on work-related suicides
Work-related suicides could be killing over 250 workers in the UK each
year, according to a new report – more than die in workplace accidents.
The news comes as a union-backed case at the House of Lords confirmed
the widow of a worker depressed after a workplace injury and who subsequently
killed himself should receive compensation.
Crying shame:
Hazards dossier exposes suicide crisis at work, Hazards
magazine, Number 101, January-March 2008 • Rowley
Ashworth news release • Risks
345
Hazards news, 1 March 2008
Europe:
More hit by psychosocial risks
New forms of employment contracts, job insecurity, work intensification,
high emotional demands, violence at work and a poor work-life balance
are taking a heavy toll on an increasing number of Europe’s workers.
The emerging psychosocial risks are spelled out in an expert forecast
from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s (EU-OSHA)
European Risk Observatory (ERO).
EU-OSHA news
release and factsheet
on emerging psychosocial risks • Expert
forecast on emerging psychosocial risks related to occupational safety
and health • Risks
341
Hazards news, 2 February 2008
Britain:
Charity warning on bullying at work
Bullying in the workplace is “endemic” in the UK, affecting
80 per cent of employees, the Samaritans has warned. The findings are
published as part of the charity's campaign to highlight the importance
of mental health at work.
TUC
bullying webpages • Risks
339
Hazards news, 19 January 2008
Britain:
Overworked probation officer 'forced out'
An overworked probation officer was forced to sell his house and car
as he pursued a three-year legal battle to prove he was a victim of
discrimination. Now an employment tribunal has ruled that Steven Collingwood,
38, of Carlisle, did suffer disability discrimination and harassment
after a nervous breakdown was brought on by overwork in November 2004.
News
and Star • Worked
to death resources • Risks
338
Hazards news, 12 January 2008
Britain:
Mental health is a workplace issue
Stress is one of top workplace health problems – and it comes
with a big cost. A new policy paper published by the Sainsbury Centre
for Mental Health (SCMH) says mental ill health costs UK employers more
than £25bn a year.
SCMH
news release • Mental health at work: Developing the business
case, Policy paper 8 [pdf]
Hazards news, 22 December 2007
Britain:
Tragedy highlights deadly teacher stress
Further evidence of the deadly stresses facing education staff has emerged
after another teacher suicide. Keith Waller, 35, an experienced primary
school teacher who was highly regarded by colleagues, pupils and parents
took his own life, after complaining he felt “singled out”
and placed under excessive scrutiny after the school received a poor
Ofsted report in 2006.
East
Anglian Daily Times • Daily
Mail
Hazards news, 22 December 2007
Britain:
Ofsted inspection ‘led to death’
A head teacher killed himself, with the action “triggered”
by fears over an Ofsted inspection of his primary school the following
day, a coroner has ruled. Jed Holmes was off work with stress when he
was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning at his flat; he died on
the eve of an Ofsted inspection in July 2007 at Hampton Hargate Primary
School, Peterborough.
BBC
News Online
Hazards news, 15 December 2007
Japan:
Court rules man was worked to death
A court in central Japan has ordered the government to pay compensation
to a woman who argued that her 30-year-old husband died from overwork
at Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's largest car maker. Hiroko Uchino filed
the suit after a local Labour Ministry office rejected applications
for workers’ compensation benefits she filed after the death of
her husband, Kenichi, said Hiroko Tamaki, a lawyer for the plaintiff.
Japan
Times • San
Francisco Chronicle
Hazards news, 8 December 2007
Britain:
Controversy over mental health measures
The government will treble the number of employment advisers in GP surgeries
and pilot a new £8m advice and support service for smaller businesses
as part of a new approach it says will help people with stress and other
mental health conditions find and keep work. The drive to get people
with mental health problems off benefits and into work has been criticised
by mental health charity Mind.
DWP
news release • Mind
news release
Hazards news, 1 December 2007
France:
Survey confirms firm’s deadly stresses
A trade union survey has confirmed high levels of work-related stress
at a French car factory that has been hit by a series of suicides. In
recent months, five employees of the Peugeot Citroën factory in
Mulhouse, in the east of France, have killed themselves.
ETUI-REHS
news report
Hazards news, 6 October 2007
Global:
Psychosocial risks and work-related stress
The World Health Organisation’s global occupational health network
(GOHNET) has in its latest newsletter turned its attention to psychosocial
risks and work-related stress. The document concentrates on countries
in economic transition and newly industrialised and developing countries,
but has a great deal of useful information for anyone interested in
these topics anywhere.
WHO
occupational health webpages • Addressing psychosocial risks
and work-related stress in countries in economic transition, in newly
industrialized countries, and in developing countries, GOHNET Newsletter
[pdf]
Hazards news, 22 September 2007
Global:
Stressful jobs cause depression
Having a high pressure job doubles the risk of depression and anxiety
in young adults, UK researchers have warned. A study of 972 32-year-olds
found 45 per cent of new cases of depression and anxiety were attributable
to stressful work.
Maria Melchior and others. Work
stress precipitates depression and anxiety in young, working women
and men, Psychological Medicine, volume 37, issue 8, pages 1119-1129,
2007
Hazards news, 4 August 2007
France: Renault could face courts
over suicides
Car maker Renault could face prosecution for the suicides of three workers
at its technical centre in Paris, after the French Work Inspectorate
submitted the findings of its investigation to the public prosecutor.
Three employees at the company's state-of-the-art Technocentre killed
themselves between October 2006 and February 2007.
Personnel
Today
Hazards news, 28 July 2007
France: Second car firm linked
to suicides
A second French car firm has had oppressive management practices linked
to worker suicides. CGT trade union representatives at the Mulhouse
site of Peugeot-Citroën in eastern France have denounced management's
practice of sending “guilt-inducing” letters to workers
on sick leave, a practice the union says is unacceptable, particularly
in the light of the suicide of four workers at the site over the last
two months.
ETUI-REHS
news report
Hazards news, 30 June 2007
Britain: Hospital reforms drove
manager to suicide
The NHS has been urged to consider the impact of reforms on staff, after
a despairing hospital manager Morag Wilson, 32, threw herself to her
death from a motorway bridge. An inquest heard that Ms Wilson, head
of dietetics at the hospital, had been facing huge pressure at work
because of government reforms under the Agenda for Change review.
The
Guardian
Hazards news, 30 June 2007
Australia: Another suicide linked
to top firm
The family and friends of Leon Dousset, a line technician at Australian
communications giant Telstra who killed himself, believe increasing
performance targets and plans to install satellite tracking in his work
van drove him to suicide. The allegations follow the suicide of Telstra
call centre worker Sally Sandic in January.
Daily
Telegraph • Details
of the Australian work suicides report
Hazards news, 23 June 2007
France: Renault suicides cause
concern
Three suicides in six months at a French car multinational’s research
centre have highlighted concerns about the intolerable workplace stress
facing overworked staff. The latest suicide at Renault’s Technocentre
followed two deaths in autumn 2006. Vincent Neveu, the CGT union official
covering the group’s engineering and white collar workers, said:
“One figure probably sums up the situation for staff at this plant
better than anything: the management itself has said that every employee
‘donates’ an average of 40 days’ leave entitlement
each year to the company as they are unable to meet their targets in
the time available.”
ITUC
spotlight interview
Hazards news, 9 June 2007
Britain: Staff mental illness
'increasing'
Mental illness is now the second largest reason for UK workers taking
time off, a report suggests, headed only by musculoskeletal disorders.
A study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
found an increasing amount of sickness leave is due to depression or
stress.
CIPD
news release • BBC
News Online
Hazards news, 9 June 2007
Global: Workers are damaged by
job cuts
Workplace restructuring and job losses have a serious effect on the
health and well-being of workers, a top academic has concluded. In a
paper for Australia’s National Research Centre for Occupational
Health and Safety Regulation, Professor Michael Quinlan said international
evidence has linked downsizing and organisational restructuring to poorer
mental health outcomes, bullying, and other forms of occupational violence
and concluded that regulators, employers and unions have failed to respond
adequately to “substantial if not compelling evidence that downsizing
and organisational restructuring pose a serious risk the physical and
mental health and wellbeing of workers.”
Michael Quinlan. Organisational restructuring/ downsizing, OHS regulation
and worker health and wellbeing, National Research Centre for OHS
Regulation, Working Paper 52, 2007 [pdf]
• OHS
Reps newsletter
Hazards news, 2 June 2007
Japan: Work stress payouts hit
new record
A record 205 individuals qualified for workers' compensation insurance
in the 2006 fiscal year after being diagnosed with depression and other
psychological disorders brought about by work-related stress, Japan’s
health ministry has said. The figure is 61 per cent up on the previous
year.
International
Herald Tribune
Hazards news, 26 May 2007
Australia: Suicide blamed on job
burnout
The family of a young Australian call centre worker wants to sue telecommunications
giant Telstra for allegedly contributing to her suicide. Sally Sandic,
21, took her life in January this year after months of mounting pressure
on staff at a Telstra facility.
Risks
301,
Hazards news 7 April 2007
Global: Depression and drugs face
job cut survivors
Workers who keep their jobs following a round of redundancies are almost
as likely to end up on stress medication as their colleagues who are
made redundant, according to new research. University College London
researchers, writing in the February edition of the Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health, said more help should be offered to “survivors”.
Risks
290
Hazards news, 20 January 2007
Japan: Suzuki liable for overwork
death
The family of a Suzuki Motor Corporation employee who killed himself
in April 2002 due to work pressures and depression are to receive compensation
for karoshi, death from overwork. A lawsuit brought by the family was
settled on 30 October 2006 when it was determined Suzuki had not implemented
appropriate policies to reduce employee workloads and so was liable.
Risks
282
Hazards news, 11 November 2006
Finland: Work strain causes burnout
causes depression
Workers with high levels of job strain are at a massively increased
risk of burnout, a study of Finnish workers has found. Researchers also
found that job burnout was the most significant risk factor for depression
among the study participants.
Risks
281
Hazards news , 4 November 2006
Britain: Depressing shifts to
blame for disability
A North East factory worker who became depressed because of the wearing
effect of alternating shifts was discriminated against by his employer,
a tribunal has found. Craig Routledge, 41, became depressed after working
alternate day and night shifts for TRW Systems in Washington.
Risks
276
Hazards news, 30 September 2006
Britain: UK forced to tighten
rules on work breaks
The TUC has welcomed a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment this
week that said the UK government is breaking the law by not forcing
employers to give their staff rest breaks.
Risks
273
Hazards news, 9 September 2006
Britain: Work pressure drove professor
to kill herself
A university lecturer killed herself after she became unable to cope
with the pressures of work. An inquest at West Sussex Coroners Court
into the death of Diana Winstanley, 45, heard she hanged herself at
her home on 5 July after struggling in a new post and becoming depressed.
Risks
272
Hazards news, 2 September 2006
Britain: Violence at work linked
to clinical depression
Employees subjected to real or threatened violence at work run a major
risk of becoming clinically depressed or suffering other stress related
disorders, new research has concluded. A study in the September 2006
issue in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found the
magnitude of the risk was in direct proportion to the amount of workplace
violence experienced.
Risks
269
Hazards news, 12 August 2006
Britain: Bullied bank worker awarded
£800,000
A City of London bank administrator who was subjected to what a judge
described as “a deliberate and concerted campaign of bullying”
by four women colleagues has been awarded £817,000 damages over
the treatment she endured, which led to two nervous breakdowns.
Risks 268
Hazards news, 5 August 2006
Britain: Stressed out nurse awarded
£140,000 payout
A member of health visitors’ union Amicus has been awarded £140,000
compensation after being exposed to a “health-endangering”
workload. The High Court award was made after Melanie Garrod, 53, said
she suffered two breakdowns when North Devon Primary Care Trust failed
to bring in temporary staff to cover for colleagues on sickness or maternity
leave.
Risks
268
Hazards news, 5 August 2006
Britain: Suicide note blamed work
pressure
An engineer who killed himself wrote in a suicide note saying “the
pressure of work has turned my mind into a ticking time bomb,”
an inquest has heard. Cardiff Coroner's Court heard how 28-year-old
Wayne Williams hanged himself after a party to mark the end of a year-long
contract in Singapore.
Risks
262
Hazards news, 24 June 2006
Britain: Employer to blame for
suicide
The firm that employed a man who killed himself years after suffering
an injury at work is liable for his death, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Lord Justice Sedley said all the evidence suggested there was no other
cause of Thomas Corr's suicide other than the injury he suffered at
work, and he was previously a “rational man”.
Risks
251
Hazards news, 8 April 2006
Britain: Suicide verdict on bullied
factory worker
A father of four killed himself after being bullied by his managers
for two years, an inquest has heard. Anthony McDermott, 50, who left
a letter explaining his factory floor ordeal before hanging himself,
said he found a bullying campaign “soul destroying and demeaning”.
Risks
243
Hazards news, 11 February 2006
Britain: Work stress gets everywhere,
study shows
Work as a librarian is more stressful than fighting fires or tackling
criminals, new research suggests. Researchers examined perceived levels
of stress and found one in three workers across occupations suffer from
poor psychological health. They concluded all organisations need to
take stress seriously.
Risks
240
Hazards news, 21 January 2006
Britain: Work stress linked to constable’s suicide
Workplace stress was a contributory factor in the suicide of a Merseyside police officer, a coroner has ruled. Pc Paula Tomlinson, 35, who was a member of a police firearms squad, was found hanged at her home in January 2004.
Risks 246
Hazards news,
4 March 2006