May 2, 2008

Health and Safety

Older workers’ injury picture tells two different stories: WSIB

PETER KENTER

correspondent

When the Ontario government abolished mandatory retirement at age 65 in 2005, the construction industry was given the opportunity to keep willing workers on its rosters longer.

While some looked forward to keeping construction expertise on the payroll, others saw a future in which frail, injury-prone workers continued to report to work year after year. Statistics about older workers, however, don’t appear to indicate that an older workforce fits any particular injury demographic.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the number one type of lost-time claims reported to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), says Don Patten, an ergonomics specialist with the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA).

“There isn’t a profile for older workers that suggests any typical injury,” he says. “Can you imagine an older construction worker going to the WSIB and being asked what the cause of the injury was, then telling the claims department, ‘I was injured because I’m old.’ That’s not going to cut it.”

Research shows that, although workers achieve their peak physical strength in the 20 to 25 age brackets, older workers have fewer-on-the-job injuries than their younger counterparts — workers in the 15 to 24 age group are most at risk for developing lost-time injuries.

The likelihood of workers experiencing MSD injuries is more the result of diverse factors that can affect workers of any age when the demands of the job exceed the capabilities of the person doing it.

“Older workers have also been exposed to MSD risks for longer than younger workers and have learned how to avoid them and cope with them,” says Patten.

“Most older workers would rather change the way they work to avoid a physical injury. The strongest link between job hazards and developing an MSD involve perception of high job demands, monotonous tasks, perceptions of low job control, low job satisfaction and perceptions of low social support.”

But, while older workers have fewer injuries, the injuries they sustain are often more severe. They’re at particular risk for sustaining soft tissue injuries such as sprains and strains and they take longer to recover from these injuries.

Workplace programs to deal with possible MSDs include putting controls in place to reduce workers’ exposure to MSD risk factors, advising and training workers about MSD risk factors, and encouraging workers to participate in health and safety programs through early reporting of MSD symptoms.

“We’re not just dealing with an anomaly,” says Patten. “The percentage of the working-age population between 45 and 64 years of age is expected to increase to 41 per cent by 2011. Older workers are here to stay and any controls we put into place will assist the next generation of older workers.”

Patten spoke at the IAPA Health and Safety Canada 2008 conference and trade show in Toronto.

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