Is your boss killing you?

Chicago: That crummy boss in the window office could be slowly killing you, according to a study of British workers published on Monday.

Researchers in Finland who conducted the study found that workers who felt they were being treated fairly had a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease.

"Most people care deeply about just treatment by authorities. Lack of justice may be a source of oppression, deprivation and stress," study author Mika Kivimaki of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

People consider that they are being treated fairly at work when they believe their supervisors consider their viewpoint, share information about decision-making and treat individuals in a truthful manner, the study said.

The researchers tracked the 10-year incidence of heart disease in over 6,400 male civil servants in London who had been polled on their perceived level of justice and injustice in the workplace.

In men who perceived a high level of justice, the risk of coronary heart disease was 30 per cent lower than among those who perceived a low or an intermediate level of justice.

However this finding was not accounted for by other risk factors, from age and socio-economic status to cholesterol levels, alcohol consumption and physical activity.