[Time] 15:00-16:00, Nov 8, Friday, 2019

[Venue] Room 529, South Shunde Building

[Speaker] Dr. Alan HS Chan

[Host] Dr. Ruifeng Yu

[Title] The Effect of Long Working Hours and Overtime on Occupational Health: A Meta-Analysis of Evidence from 1998 to 2018

[Abstract] There has been no subsequent meta-analysis examining the effects of long working hours on health or occupational health since 1997. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a meta-analysis covering studies after 1997 for a comparison. A total of 243 published records were extracted from electronic databases. The effects were measured by five conditions, namely, physiological health (PH), mental health (MH), health behaviours (HB), related health (RH), and nonspecified health (NH). The overall odds ratio between long working hours and occupational health was 1.245 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.195–1.298). The condition of related health constituted the highest odds ratio value (1.465, 95% CI: 1.332–1.611). The potential moderators were study method, cut-point for long weekly working hours, and country of origin. Long working hours were shown to adversely affect the occupational health of workers. The management on safeguarding the occupational health of workers working long hours should be reinforced.

[Bio] Dr. Alan H.S. Chan obtained his BSc, MPhil, and PhD from the University of Hong Kong. He has a wide range of research interests in human factors, work design, and occupational safety and health. He has been contributing to his profession and was elected as a Fellow of International Ergonomics Association, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and the Hong Kong Ergonomics Society. Dr Chan is a Chartered Engineer (UK) and Chartered Ergonomist & Human Factors Specialist (UK). Dr Chan was the President of Institute of Industrial Engineers (HK) for 96/97 and twice the President of the Hong Kong Ergonomics Society (03-05, 09-11). He was the Region Vice President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (01-03), and Hong Kong Representative for the International Ergonomics Association (02-05, 09-11). He was appointed by the Hong Kong Government as the Chairman of Occupational Safety and Health Council in 2017 and 2019. Dr Chan is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, an Associate Editor of International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing and Service Industries, and is now serving the editorial board of Ergonomics. Dr. Chan has published close to 200 refereed papers in SCI journals in human factors covering work design, safety and health, and human-machine interfaces to promote the ergonomics profession and practice internationally. He has authored many important publications on diverse topics such as driving performance and visual attention, visual inspection programs, control and display arrangements, design of auditory and visual signals, redesign of safety signs, analysis of road accidents, safety and ergonomics evaluations, and risk perceptions and industrial safety of construction workers. He has also published more than 50 book chapters and technical reports, two book reviews and one book on the expertise of human factors.