Man designing Camry hybrid works self to death

Newsbot submitted on 07/10/2008 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 10:49 AM
from: www.cnn.com

[57] user comments | category: Misc News

Tags: Man designing Camry hybrid works self to death

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest in a string of such findings in a nation where extraordinarily long hours for some employees has long been the norm.

The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. The man's identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based.

In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno.

He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. The man's daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.

The ruling was handed down June 30 and will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, Mizuno said Wednesday.

An officer at the Aichi Labor Bureau on Wednesday confirmed the ruling, but declined to comment on the record.

In a statement, Toyota Motor Corp. offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers.

There is an effort in Japan to cut down on deaths from overwork, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987.

Last year, a court in central Japan ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died at age 30 in 2002. She took the case to court after her application to the local labor bureau for compensation was rejected. Read Article

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bigmotov - 7/10/2008 12:13:37 PM

+10 Boost

Not that I'm sticking up for Toyota and I think it's terrible, but this isn't that uncommon over there, hence the term "karoshi". This just happens to be with Toyota and that's some nasty PR. Too bad about the worker.

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kthor - 7/10/2008 1:55:59 PM

+8 Boost

Toyota needs to keep refining how to nearly work their employees to death without actually killing them. It's a fine line.

HSCenterconsole - 7/10/2008 12:22:51 PM

-2 Boost

More like BORED to death.

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LexusKindaGuy12 - 7/10/2008 12:25:50 PM

-4 Boost

lol!

TurboSpyder - 7/10/2008 1:34:16 PMView My AgentSpace

-6 Boost

Aaahahahaha. Thanks for the laugh!

PlanB - 7/10/2008 2:06:31 PM

-3 Boost

LOL, given the content of this post that shouldn't be funny but it really is.

SHOWTIME - 7/10/2008 4:53:31 PMView My AgentSpace

-6 Boost

lol

Shredmo - 7/10/2008 12:36:10 PM

+8 Boost

20 hours of OT per week (80 per mo.), including travelling abroad doesn't sound terrible to me. Perhaps diet and genes were partially to blame.

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GTR35 - 7/10/2008 2:04:42 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

I was thinking the same thing. 4 hours of OT per day sounds like something I used to do MINIMUM when I was in service in time of war and I'm still kicking. If that's the only factor they have for their case I don't think they will win. Maybe they should add HSCenterconsole boredom comment as a factor, after all it was a Camry he was designing.

daytonaviolet - 7/10/2008 9:53:50 PM

+2 Boost

I was wondering the same thing, but do Japanese workers work a 40 hour week like the US?

mpwr - 7/10/2008 12:40:47 PM

+1 Boost

and to think all this for a dead end technology, very sad indeed

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F1_Driver - 7/10/2008 12:49:29 PM

-1 Boost

Dead end technology? Funny how almost every manufacturer these days are jumping on the hybrid technology bandwagon.

mpwr - 7/10/2008 1:08:58 PM

-1 Boost

let me clarify, when i say dead end im referring to the batteries that are in there infancy and know knows what to do with. Plus the need for a fossile fuel based internal cumbustion engine to supply mechanical power to the wheels. this is mearly a stop gap measure untill true long term systems are worked out and come online

800over - 7/10/2008 1:29:46 PM

+5 Boost

by your definition.....most technologies are dead end.

TheSailor - 7/10/2008 12:44:15 PMView My AgentSpace

+6 Boost

hmm... doesn't sound like he worked that much to me... honestly, this seems like something from a tabloid with a grudge against toyota...

If you think 80 hour of overtime pr month is alot, you should try going to sea... we work 12 hours a day... and that is seven days a week... And that doesn't include stupid alarm calls at three in the morning when you are on watch!!!

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Bored - 7/10/2008 2:46:22 PM

+1 Boost

@ MT,

And you want to live in Japan for this!?

Bored - 7/10/2008 2:50:44 PM

+1 Boost

@ theSailor,

**system glitch and you got my comment to MT by mistake**

Anyway, although the article link goes to the CNN website, it's actually a post written by the Associated Press. So it's legit.

TheSailor - 7/10/2008 4:35:05 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

yeah... i realised that as well... but yo have to admit, it's still a pretty silly article... How many people die from stress every day? It is just the way it is today, people don't know how to stop working and have fun once in a while! Maybe I should start a deto clinic like the betty ford, just for workaholics instead! :D

EL34 - 7/10/2008 12:53:10 PM

+2 Boost

Maybe hybrids cause death, you know like cell phones cause brain tumors o_O

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sold2early - 7/10/2008 12:55:52 PM

+4 Boost

Those hours are not at all uncommon in Japan.

I work for a Japanese-based company; standard hours for managers and team leaders working in the Japan offices is 8am-9pm, and they often have to work until 2am to support hot projects.

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sold2early - 7/10/2008 12:57:34 PM

+7 Boost

...and every one them is stressed to the max, and drink coffee and smoke nonstop.

c36amg - 7/10/2008 12:57:06 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

its a murder case...

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EL34 - 7/10/2008 1:12:10 PM

-5 Boost

Anything for the puny yen :-(

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MichaelTaylor - 7/10/2008 1:28:47 PM

+3 Boost

Well he was under a lot of stress. Stress can cause heart attacks. This dude should be honored or something IMO.

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lexusrox123 - 7/10/2008 1:34:17 PM

-3 Boost

i wonder if that guy smoked. i'm 90% sure he did, and smoking causes heart and lung problems......

Bored - 7/10/2008 2:53:31 PM

+5 Boost

@ MT

Guess what?
You're getting a +1 from me just because your comment was thoughtful, respectful, and on topic -- a total 180 from the norm and something that we hope you will do more often.

MichaelTaylor - 7/10/2008 4:50:53 PM

+6 Boost

Thanks!

MercedesBenz00Z - 7/10/2008 5:24:20 PM

-2 Boost

You got my deboost because you obviously said it because he was a Toyota worker. Stop being a hypocrite moron, if that was a BMW worker, you prob said "Today is such a great day" or whatever you can think of.

TurboSpyder - 7/10/2008 1:43:03 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

Here's another case where Toyota was sued for working an employee to death.

"On November 30th the Nagoya District Court accepted Hiroko Uchino's claim that her husband, Kenichi, a third-generation Toyota employee, was a victim of karoshi when he died in 2002 at the age of 30. He collapsed at 4am at work, having put in more than 80 hours of overtime each month for six months before his death. 'The moment when I am happiest is when I can sleep,' Mr Uchino told his wife the week of his death. He left two children, aged one and three."

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10329261

See also:

"Toyota Linked to Human Trafficking and Sweatshop Abuses"

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS112901+18-Jun-2008+PRN20080618

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_43LE - 7/10/2008 3:23:12 PM

+7 Boost

Toyota is not the only car company linked to scandal:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050806/ai_n14863525

Funny how some people can be so selective in their hate.

AdHominem - 7/10/2008 4:19:52 PM

-3 Boost

That 3 year old article had NOTHING to do with sweatshops or worker abuse. It was a bribery story. This article is about Toyota and its abuse of its workers. It is repulsive and trying to smear another brand with a lie is almost as bad, 43LE.

_43LE - 7/10/2008 5:18:58 PM

+1 Boost

Was the 3 year old article a lie? All I was pointing out was that Toyota is not the only car company to have ethical problems. This site is unbalanced against Toyota. I think we all know that.

MercedesBenz00Z - 7/10/2008 5:31:46 PM

-1 Boost

Which one is better, a company with some bribery record, and a company that kills their own workers.

_43LE - 7/11/2008 8:54:08 AM

+3 Boost

I don't think that Toyota actually killed this worker. Remember, this is a cultural thing in Japan, devotion to the company. I think that consciously bribing someone (and knowing doing something that is wrong) is worse than cultural circumstances.

Wasn't Toyota just recently names most ethical auto company by a Swiss organization?

xlr8 - 7/10/2008 2:29:05 PM

+5 Boost

yea this isnt really a toyota as it is more of a japanese work ethic. This is practiced at numerous factories in japan. look it up you would be suprised. Unfortunate nonetheless :(

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_43LE - 7/10/2008 3:11:16 PM

+9 Boost

+1, really more of a Japanese thing than a Toyota thing. It's funny how all the usual haters come out in droves when a negative story like this appears.

xlr8 - 7/10/2008 3:37:14 PM

+3 Boost

I guess the truth hurts hence the deboosting lol.

xlr8 - 7/10/2008 3:38:47 PM

+6 Boost

I also notice this site is anti toyota...make that anti asian.

amazinBimmer - 7/10/2008 2:48:22 PM

-10 Boost

he was just bored building shit cars..

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tattedtwice - 7/10/2008 3:01:07 PM

-10 Boost

This shouldnt be a shock. This pathetic company doesnt give a s*it about PEOPLE, just money and taking over the car world. It's like the iraq war and bush pushing his personal agenda; so what if a few people die along the way.

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t_bone - 7/10/2008 4:34:41 PM

+4 Boost

Somehow I don't see people in Detroit working this hard. "What do you think, Sonny, should we give it a solid rear axle again this year or design something new?" "Nah, keep it, and the unions will stay happy."

Hopefully the Chevy Volt team is working this hard.

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adamsaf723 - 7/10/2008 4:35:19 PM

+5 Boost

This reminds me of when all those ppl in Korea were dying from playing too much World of Warcraft. LOL.

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MercedesBenz00Z - 7/10/2008 5:26:31 PM

-1 Boost

This is the problem with Japan. The companies obviously do not care a thing about their workers.

In Japan, there is Karoshi. In America, there are starvation, corrupt government and recession.

And no wonder those cheap countries can only produce cheap cars.

German engineering all the way. Go Europe :)

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I95SPEEDINGTICKETS - 7/10/2008 9:12:27 PM

+2 Boost

What i want to know is if 80 hrs of overtime a month is on a 40hr week {Common in Western Society} or if it is on the Already huge 80+hr week ?

Some how i think the latter is the case.

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huu76 - 7/10/2008 9:29:53 PM

+5 Boost

It could be worse, it could be the 1940s and the guy was worked to death without pay. You should ask the Quandts about it.

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daytonaviolet - 7/10/2008 9:59:47 PM

+1 Boost

Interesting, tell us more...

auto001 - 7/10/2008 10:55:00 PM

+2 Boost

What other auto company can invoke such passion from its workers... he died doing what he loved, what a way to go :)

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amazinBimmer - 7/10/2008 11:55:02 PM

+3 Boost

t bone.. i so agree with you..visualize the guy being fat and some redneck hoosier driving a f150 truck

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damikco - 7/11/2008 12:59:44 AMView My AgentSpace

-1 Boost

THIS IS WHY UNIONS EXITS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

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truckmen - 7/11/2008 4:12:38 AM

+1 Boost

It doesn't sound like that many hours, although it is a fact that shift workers live shorter lives, . Stress must have been the main factor especially with all the problems that the car has and the fact that it isn't all that great of a hybrid that it could have been.I feel bad for his family. RIP

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tecnopolis - 7/11/2008 5:40:59 AM

+2 Boost

eemer, alot f the overtime was off the books.

The relentless persuit of perfection, ideed!

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Czelinski - 7/11/2008 6:41:40 AM

-1 Boost

"Funny how almost every manufacturer these days are jumping on the hybrid technology bandwagon."

Needs must, if tards (customers, sorry) are gullible and believe that it's going to save our planet. If companies want money, they must produce what the customer wants, it's business after all...

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Agent63 - 7/11/2008 6:48:17 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

It's too bad their engineers and workers aren't pampered with fresh plants and the perfect humidity and all that great stuff like the employees at the Ferrari plant. Then again it's Ferrari and this is Toyota.

Good job Toyota look what you did =P

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truthpursuit - 7/11/2008 8:12:00 PM

+1 Boost

I think he smoked about 5 packs a day.

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huu76 - 7/12/2008 12:17:12 AM

+1 Boost

damikco,
This is why unions were created. Unions as they exist today only serve to protect the lazy.

There's plenty of blame to go around. It's just more fun to target #1 when they're walking allover the establishment.
Mexican gov't allows German companies to violate Mexican women's rights.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/1998/12/29/mexico1452.htm

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huu76 - 7/12/2008 12:19:11 AM

+2 Boost

Daytona,
The Quandt family fortune was made during WWII when they used slave labour to manufacture equipment for the Nazis.

Basically the same method that most old-money families used to get wealthy, especially in Europe.

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tkindred - 7/13/2008 3:31:16 AM

+1 Boost

From what I can tell when I am in Japan, they work a lot more hours on average than we do in the U.S. Way more.

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