Purpose. In this study, we examined whether the associations between working hours, job satisfaction, and work-life balance are mediated by occupational stress. In addition, we tested whether perceived time control helps moderate the effects of working hours and occupational stress. Methodology. Questionnaires were administered to 369 respondents working in the high-tech and banking industries. Analyses were then conducted on the data. Findings. The analysis revealed significant correlations between long working hours and both occupational stress and work-life balance, as well as between occupational stress and both work-life balance and job satisfaction. In addition, the relationship between working hours and occupational stress exhibited a significantly positive interaction with perceived time control. Value. The results indicate the importance of giving workers greater control over working hours. We therefore recommend that labor laws should be revised as necessary to prevent excessive working hours and enhance work-time flexibility.

Background: Health disparities related to environmental exposure exist in different industries. Cancer is currently a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Much remains unknown about the types of work and industries that face the greatest cancer risks. In this study, we aimed to provide the overall and specific cancer incidences among all workers from 2004 to 2015. We also aimed to show the all-cause mortality for all employees with a first-ever cancer diagnosis. Methods: All workers in Taiwan in the labor insurance database in 2004–2015 were linked to the national health insurance databases. The annual overall and specific cancer incidences in 2004–2015 were calculated and stratified by industry and gender. Age-standardized incidence rates were also calculated. Results: A total of 332,575 workers (46.5% male) who had a first-ever cancer diagnosis from 2004–2015 were identified from 16,720,631 employees who provided 1,564,593 person-years of observation. The fishing, wholesale, construction, and building industries were identified as high-risk industries, with at least 5% of employees within them receiving a first-ever cancer diagnosis. Temporal trends of cancer incidences showed a range from 235.5 to 294.4 per 100,000 with an overall upward trend and an increase of 1.3-fold from 2004 to 2015. There were significant increases over that time for breast cancer (25%); colon cancer (8%); lung, bronchial, and tracheal cancers (11%); and oral cancer (1.7%). However, the incidence rates of cervical cancer and liver and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma decreased by 11.2% and 8.3%, respectively. Among the 332,575 workers with a first-ever cancer diagnosis, there were 110,692 deaths and a mortality rate of 70.75 per 1000 person-years. Conclusions: The overall incidence of cancer increased over the 10-year study period, probably due to the aging of the working population. High-risk industries are concentrated in the labor-intensive blue-collar class, which is related to aging and socioeconomic status intergradation.

Background: While occupational factors linked to the onset of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been reported among workers, much remains unknown about the impacts that occupation has on the onset of CVDs in various age groups. We attempted to describe temporal trends in total and work-related CVDs (WRCVDs) rates stratified by age and year and explore the relative contributions of work to the CVD risk. Methods: This study was conducted using two populations from the Labor Insurance Database as the working population and the National Health Insurance Research Database as the general population. We included all people aged 15–75 years from 2006 to 2013. All CVD events and WRCVD events were identified. A Poisson regression was used to estimate the morbidity rate ratio (RR) stratified by age and period, and an RR adjusted for residual confounding was also used. Results: Incident CVD rates increased with aging in the general population (from 1113.55 to 1853.32 per 100,000 persons), and WRCVD rates increased in the working population over time (from 2.10 in 2006 to 8.60 in 2013 per 100,000 persons). In the age and period analysis, CVD attacks showed disparities in different populations. The RR of the WRCVD risk was mainly in the working population aged >45 years, and the RR of the CVD risk occurred in the oldest group (aged 55–64 years) of the general population. The population-attributable risk of working exposure was 13.5%. After eliminating residual confounding factors, higher population attributed risk (PAR) work-related excessive CVD risk mainly occurred in workers aged 25–34 and 35–44 years. A decreasing PAR trend was found in the age groups as follows: 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, and 55–64 years, with percentages of 17.64%, 16.89%, 16.46%, 10.6%, and 0.65%, respectively. Conclusions: There is evidence that period and age trends of CVD rates differed between the working population and general population. Relative effects attributed to work were more severe in younger workers, particularly in workers aged <55 years.