July 15, 2008

Japanese engineer dies of overwork

TOKYO

A Japanese labour bureau has ruled that one of Toyota Motor Corp.’s top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest decision against overwork in Japan, where stoic acceptance of extended overtime is the norm.

The man who died was 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota’s Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife.

In the two months leading up to his death, he averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, the criteria for overwork, according to Mizuno.

He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died. The ruling is the most recent in a string of decisions against long working hours in Japan, which is struggling to cut down on deaths from overworking, known as “karoshi.’’

Canadian Press

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