Managers are less likely to have cancer, while shop assistants have a greater
chance of suffering back pain and nurses have a higher rate of heart disease,
according to a new Australian
study.

By occupation, the study
found that the relative risk of a manager having neoplasms, or cancerous
tumors, was found to be 0.25 compared to 0.40 for a tradesperson and 0.74 for
laborers.

"We don’t know
of any reason why they (managers) would be at lower risk as a result of being in
that occupation," said Deborah Schofield, an associate professor at Sydney
University,

"What we think is
that it may be that if you do have cancer that you’re in secure jobs with
very good sick leave arrangements so you’re in a position to take time out
of the workforce if you need
to."

Schofield said it was
possible that bosses sitting up in their corner offices were less exposed to
carcinogens than other workers but this could not be
proven.

"So we don’t
think that you are necessarily, if you’re in those jobs, less likely to
get cancer. It’s possibly more to do with your work arrangements when and
if that does happen," she
said.

The survey, which is
published in the

Medical Journal of
Australia

, analysed the records of more
than 4,200 workers and found about two-thirds had a medical
condition.

It found that older
workers with chronic conditions were more likely to be employed in certain
industries such as retail, and health and community services, Schofield
said.

"In the retail trade
there was a significantly higher risk of musculoskeletal conditions. And then
cardiovascular disease came out higher in health and community
services."

Via Times of India