Older workers intensify safety, ergonomics needs

Stretch fabric maker Charbert takes pride in its safety efforts and in its five years without any lost time due to on-the-job injuries at its Wakefield and Wood River Junction plants. New employees go through a special orientation, and a safety committee looks out for any risks.

But it’s not just potential accidents that Charbert has prepared for: The manufacturer has also invested in CPR training for at least one person per shift, and it has an automated external defibrillator (AED) at each of its three plants – even the one with only five workers.

“We do have an older work force, and we do have a lot of people with heart conditions, but we did it for everybody,” said Human Resource Director Bonnie Jacob. “The fact is that anybody in today’s society – including children – could have a problem.”

Workers appreciate the AEDs, Jacob added, to the point that one man in his 60s, told that he was at high risk for a stroke, chose to work while awaiting heart surgery. His daughter was “fuming” when she found out, Jacob said, but he replied, “They have a defibrillator here. What am I supposed to do (if something happens) in the house?”

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U.S. workers are aging; as of 2002, there were 19.2 million workers age 55 and older, and by 2015, there are projected to be 31.8 million, making up nearly 20 percent of the work force. In some sectors, such as nursing and skilled manufacturing, median ages are already in the 40s.

The benefits of older workers, human resource experts will tell you, are widely recognized: well-honed skills, experience, institutional knowledge, loyalty, and often greater reliability. But age also brings a new set of needs and vulnerabilities, and more and more, employers are adapting their safety strategies accordingly.

Some, like Charbert, are installing AEDs, which contribute to everyone’s safety but are particularly valuable for older workers. Many other measures are also important for the graying set but helpful to all: reducing the risk of slips and falls – which can hurt older, more brittle bones; minimizing heavy lifting; and reducing exposure to extreme temperatures.

Cynthia L. Roth, president and CEO of Ergonomics Technologies Corp., a consulting and training firm based in Syosset, N.Y., said addressing these concerns is a “huge” part of her work. Her first lecture on the topic, at ErgoExpo five years ago, drew a standing-room-only audience, she said, and “it’s escalated. Everybody wants to hear about the aging work force and what are some of the solutions to keep workers at their jobs.”

Roth has provided ergonomic advice to the auto and aerospace industries. This month she’s advising the Midwest Energy Co. in Kansas City; she’s also going to Hallmark Cards.

Roth’s company goes into a workplace, analyzes the various jobs for potential physical risks and finds ways to reduce those risks and make the jobs less straining on the body – by reducing work with static muscle effort (requiring a person to hold something heavy for a long time, for example), installing mechanical lifts so people have to do less lifting, and providing opportunities for workers to strengthen their muscles and increase their flexibility through exercise.

For trades requiring outdoor work in the summer, such as construction, Roth’s company warns about potential heat stress and the resulting strain on the heart and blood vessels, especially for older workers. For postal workers, at cold-storage warehouses, in commercial fishing and other jobs with exposure to extreme cold, Roth offers advice on how to minimize the risk for trench foot, frostbite and hypothermia, by wearing layered clothing, for example.

And while older workers may need some adjustments the most, Roth said, everyone in a company benefits.

Workers’ compensation exposures are also a real concern, Roth said. Anytime a job carries an injury risk – for an older worker or a young one – it’s worth investing in a way to improve it. “The cost of a workers’ comp claim is greater than an ergonomic off-the-shelf fix,” she said. “We say, ‘Pay now or pay later.’”

Don’t go into the whole process, however, thinking of older workers as a big workers’ comp liability, said William K. Austin, a principal of Austin & Stanovich Risk Managers in Providence.

“You’ve got to be careful that you not single out for example people over 40 and discriminate,” he said.

In reality, Austin noted, National Council on Compensation Insurance figures show that while workers over 55 do get seriously injured at a slightly higher-than-average rate, the age group most likely to suffer injuries is 35- to 45-year-olds, especially males. Males in that age group make up 15 percent of the work force, but nearly 30 percent of serious injuries.

Still, Austin said, it’s important for employers to be aware of differences in the risk to different age groups; the young may be more exposed due to carelessness, inexperience and “exuberance,” he said, while older workers might be more vulnerable for being out of shape.

Any company that’s had a worker injury should investigate it and pin down the cause, to ensure the risk is eliminated, Austin said. And safety training should be universal, not just aimed at new arrivals.

“You shouldn’t assume, especially with an older, more experienced person, that because they’ve been there for a long time they don’t need safety training – whether it’s an ergonomic issue or better ways of lifting,” Austin said. “Because the technology on these things has continued to evolve, and we keep doing it better.”

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