Japan's cabinet OK's outline of steps against death from overwork

The government on Friday approved initiatives aimed at preventing workers from dying from overwork and other job-related causes.

The policy, decided at a Cabinet meeting, calls for conducting a wide-ranging survey of job-related deaths and suicides in an attempt to grasp the real situation and determine the causes of such deaths.

Those working 60 hours or more a week, who are deemed to have the highest risk of karoshi, or death from overwork, currently account for 9 percent of total workers, according to a labor force survey conducted by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The Cabinet set a numerical target of reducing the figure to 5 percent or fewer by 2020.

The outline calls for central and local governments and businesses to cooperate in conducting surveys and research to discover the backgrounds and causes of cumulative fatigue and psychological stress and to elucidate the relationship between them and deaths from overwork.

Setting a goal of decreasing karoshi cases to zero in the future, the outline also incorporates such programs as expanding counseling offices for workers and educating high school and university students about karoshi.

But the outline failed to include corrective measures on long hours of work such as setting a ceiling on overtime. Those representing the bereaved families of karoshi victims expressed dissatisfaction on the matter during a meeting of the council.

The outline will take effect in the coming three years and be reexamined as needed.

The outline was compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry after the measures were discussed by a council that was established based on the law for promotion of measures to prevent deaths from overwork or other causes, which was enforced in November last year.

The council comprises experts, representatives of labor and management, and bereaved family members of karoshi victims.