Technological breakthroughs have vastly improved man's life expectancy but in the manufacturing sector the introduction of automation appears to have pushed down thousands of workers into brink of unhealthy condition.

According to new research findings recently released by WorkSafe Victoria, more manufacturing employees are afflicted with potentially fatal ailments, chief of which are diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.

The study blamed risky lifestyles and fresh technologies as main agents for spawning a new generation of Australian workers that could soon face the dire consequences of their wrong choices.

Of the more than 40,000 blue-collar workers checked by WorkSafe researchers, about a quarter admitted that they smoke, with a corresponding 6.1 percent found to be presently dealing with heart disease, a medical condition that doctors have consistently attributed to cigarette smoking.

Their professional counterparts, the study said, seemed to have tempered their smoking habits in the past few years, with the present figures now pegged at only 13.6 percent in the bracket.

Not surprisingly, only 3.1 percent office workers have been found by the study as struggling with serious heart issues, laying out an emerging trend that says physical work is not necessarily healthier in today's present workplace settings.

For one, newer technologies presently in-placed on many manufacturing assemblies have lightened up the physical demands of such environment and in many cases, according to WorkHealth Ambassador Wayne Kayler-Thomson, a big chunk of manual workers have found themselves trapped in sedentary conditions.

Concluded by the study as direct results were the higher numbers of type two diabetes among manufacturing workers, which researchers said reached 32 percent in the survey while those in the professional fields reported diabetes incidence of only 18.3 percent.

The new health indicators, Mr Kayler-Thomson said, should prompt manufacturing operators to roll out practical measures that would safeguard the welfare, health-wise, of their workers.

The interventions, Mr Kayler-Thomson told the Australian Associated Press (AAP), need not to be complicated and can be implemented without additional costs to business owners.

These companies, he added, could simply work for the establishment of "facilities to enable riding to work, stretch programs at the start of every shift, or longer-term health related competitions and challenges."

At this point, the professional set-up appears to have gained the edge over the manual workers, the study revealed, as many office workers intimated that they have radically revised their dietary habits to combat the onset of unhealthy conditions.

Equally, business operators have done their share by adopting programs that would encourage white-collar employees to engage in higher physical activities, the survey said.

As per the research result, more and more desk-bound workers have opted to use public transport or ride a bike in reporting to work.