314 die each year from overwork

An average of 314 workers die every year of “karoshi,” or death from overwork, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday.

Among males, occupational death is detected the most in high ranking workers, while for females, it was laborers that died the most frequently from overwork.

According to the ministry’s report to Rep. Kim Yong-gu of opposition Liberty Forward Party, a total of 1,572 workers died of cerebralvascular disorders between 2006 and 2010 and were acknowledged by the government as occupational deaths.

Males outnumbered women by 1,412 to 162 and the majority were 40-somethings followed by those in their 50s, 30s and 60s in that order. Those in their 20s were not immune from overwork, either: 53 died in that age group.

In case of males, those in management levels including executives took the first place with 353 deaths followed by laborers, mechanics or assemblers, office workers and professional workers.

For females, laborers topped the list of the most occupational deaths with 49, followed by service workers.

The report showed that many karoshi cases took place in the morning between 6 a.m. and noon followed by afternoon, nighttime and earlier in the morning.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)