The mortality rate for those who do physical work is more than twice that for salaried office workers, a study showed Friday, showing a correlation between occupation and death.

A doctors team from Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital looked into the death records of 1.14 million workers enrolled in government-run employment insurance plans, analyzing data from 1995 to 2008.

Over this period, there were 563 deaths per 100,000 male workers in the agriculture and fishery sector, compared to 249 deaths of white-collar male workers per 100,000. In the middle of the spectrum, 499 manual workers died per 100,000, while there were 362 deaths in the services sector. 

Farmers and fishers had 2.7 times higher rates of death than those committed to such jobs as lawyers and doctors. 

The report said that the difference in mortality rates is a result of manual workers suffering more from industrial accidents, suicides and addiction problems.

“The figure does not even include workers in small firms who are not covered by employment insurance. Still, the figures illustrate the huge gap in mortality rate according to occupation,” said a lead author and professor in medical studies, Lee Hye-eun.

“The gap stems from the different extent of risks by occupation and individuals’ health care abilities,” she said. “Policies are necessary to support those with low social, economic status and to tackle the inequality.”

The report was published in the February edition of Occupational Environmental Medicine in the U.K.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)