Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
Open Access

Commentary

Recovery from Work as a Means to Compensate for Increasing Work Demands

Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

*Corresponding Author:

Gerhard Blasche
Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
E-mail: gerharde.blasche@meduniwien.ac.at

Received date: June 14, 2013; Accepted date: July 18, 2013; Published date: July 20, 2013

Citation: Blasche G (2013) Recovery from Work as a Means to Compensate for Increasing Work Demands. Occup Med Health Aff 1:124. doi: 10.4172/2329-6879.1000124

Copyright: © 2013 Blasche G. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

There is evidence that work demands have increased in the European Union in the last 20 years. A result of demanding work conditions is the development of prolonged fatigue. Prolonged fatigue is among others associated with increased long-term sickness absence. Prolonged fatigue is not only affected by work conditions but also by a lack of recovery from work leading to an increased need for recovery. Rest breaks and leisure time reduce fatigue, especially when individuals are able to mentally detach from work. It is proposed that a positive and knowledgeable attitude towards recovery from work together with specific recovery-related skills may help promote successful workrelated recovery and thus reduce work-related fatigue.