From classroom to practice: Health and safety training of an aging workforce

Training required by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations often focuses on the “here and now” and may include for example, information about material safety data sheets, personal protective equipment, or hazards on a construction site. Often enough, worker and management focus is also on the here and now of getting the work done rather than on the critical examination of the work environment for job hazards that are known to contribute to workplace injury or illness.

As individuals age, natural changes result including reduced physical and sensory capabilities and mental acuity. While aging workers may not necessarily have a higher injury risk overall, the effects of their injuries may be more intense than those experienced by younger workers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a guidance document that targeted age awareness training for miners. The objectives found in that document may be applied to any industry and include examination and understanding of age-related changes that everyone experiences, identifying work that puts all at risk, modifying jobs to accommodate older workers, and examining healthy life choices.

This session will include an overview of a small-group activity developed by the presenters that identified hazards faced by aging workers and interventions that could be implemented to accommodate an aging workforce. It will include evaluation data with anecdotal examples from student-workers who participated in the activity of workplace changes made to accommodate an aging workforce.