IRELAND'S workers are the healthiest and happiest in Europe, according to a new study by researchers in Dublin. Yet they are also among the hardest working, the study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has found.
Some 95 per cent of Irish workers declared themselves satisfied with their job, more than in any other EU country. The average was 84 per cent.
They are also less likely to worry about the effects of work on their health, and less likely to complain of common work related illnesses, such as back pain and stress.
But the average Irish working week of 43 hours is longer than in all other countries except Portugal and Greece. The Germans and the Danes may have the reputation of being hard workers, but the study shows they put in an average of only 37 hours a week. Across the EU, the average is 39 hours.
The Irish are also far more likely to work long weeks, and to work at night and on Saturdays. More than one quarter of Irish employees said they worked at night at least once a month.
In addition, more Irish work at home, 27 per cent against an EU average of 17 per cent.
More than 15,000 workers in the 15 EU member states were surveyed for the study, the largest of its type ever conducted in Europe. The report, the Second European Survey of Working Conditions, was presented to the European Parliament this week.
Since the last such survey in 1991, the pace of work has increased everywhere, the report says. This factor is frequently linked to work-related illnesses, but in Ireland these are much less common than elsewhere.
For example, 13 per cent of Irish workers reported suffering from back-aches, compared to 30 per cent across the EU. Only 12 per cent of the Irish were stressed, compared to an overall average of 28 per cent. The Irish also had fewer sleeping and personal problems and were less irritable than anyone else.
Nonetheless, 8 per cent of Irish workers said they had been intimidated at work and 6 per cent had been physically assaulted.
Ireland, however, comes bottom of the rankings for child care. Only 4 per cent said the companies they worked for provided it. Absenteeism among Irish employees is low; 84 per cent said they had not missed a single day in 12 months for health reasons.
