Long working hours are leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths per year, according to a new study by the World Health Organisation and the International Labor Organisation.

Working more than 55 hours a week in a paid job resulted in 745,000 deaths in 2016, the study estimated, up from 590,000 in 2000. About 398,000 of the deaths in 2016 were because of stroke and 347,000 because of heart disease. Both physiological stress responses and changes in behaviour - such as an unhealthy diet, poor sleep and reduced physical activity - are "conceivable" reasons that long hours have a negative impact on health, the authors suggest.

The study said that working more than 55 hours per week is dangerous. It is associated with an estimated 35 percent higher risk of stroke and 17 percent higher risk of heart disease compared with working 35-40 hours per week.

About nine percent of the global population works long hours. In 2016, an estimated 488 million people worked more than 55 hours per week.

The report said long hours were more dangerous than other occupational hazards. In all three years that the study examined (2000, 2010 and 2016), working long hours led to more disease than any other occupational risk factor, including exposure to carcinogens and the nonuse of seat belts at work. And the health toll of overwork worsened over time: From 2000 to 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease because of working long hours increased 42 percent, and from stroke 19 percent.

If these stats were applied to something like drinking, drugs or any product there would be an immediate recall. But since it is only humans working for companies who do not care about their staff nothing will come of it.