Campaign reminds us that the younger workers of today are the older workers of tomorrow
The European Commission and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in cooperation with the Netherlands EU Presidency has launched a two-year Europe-wide campaign: Healthy Workplaces for All Ages. Focusing on sustainable work and workplace safety and health in the context of the ageing workforce. The campaign provides a timely reminder that the younger workers of today are the older workers of tomorrow.
The campaign states the importance catering for the needs of Europe’s future workplaces and workers, saying that workplaces that address the health challenges of an ageing workforce gain in productivity, which is good for workers and good for business.
The campaign focuses on Europe’s enterprises (both private and public) and the need to promote sustainable work and healthy ageing from the beginning of working life. By doing so, they will be protecting their workers’ health up to and beyond retirement age and their organisations’ productivity.
This objectives of the campaign are four-fold:
Commissioner Thyssen highlighted the timeliness of this campaign topic: “At a time when there are important discussions going on about the future landscape of occupational safety and health in the EU, this campaign is extremely relevant. We need to start now to cater for the needs of Europe’s future workplaces and workers. Workplaces that address the health challenges of an ageing workforce gain in productivity. This is good for workers and good for business.”
Christa Sedlatschek, Director of EU-OSHA, underlined the business case for this campaign topic: “By focusing on sustainable working throughout working life, not only can all workers better protect their health, but companies are likely to see major benefits too. Healthy workers are productive workers, and productive workers are essential to any effective organisation: it’s a win–win situation. We therefore highly value the cooperation between EU-OSHA and our focal points, official campaign partners and media partners and thank them for all their efforts in previous campaigns. We look forward to working with them again over the next two years.”
The British Safety Council has pledged its support for the campaign. Chief Executive Mike Robinson said: “The official retirement age in EU Member States is increasing. In the next two decades, a large proportion of employees over 50 will leave work for ever, taking their market expertise, professional experience and skills with them. Meanwhile the demographic data suggests that there is unlikely to be a sufficient supply of younger people in Britain who would replace retiring workers. These facts cannot be ignored by any employer.
“Retaining older workers will become not only an economic but also a social imperative. The companies that would be prepared to retain older employees will remain more competitive and diverse, with a greater pool of skills and talent. However, longer working lives would mean greater exposure to a variety of health-related risks. The management of issues such as disability prevention, rehabilitation and return to work will increase in importance. Older workers are also more vulnerable to certain hazards, particularly in an industrial work environment. Therefore, the introduction of specific measures to ensure work safety and the efficiency of older employees, as well as age-sensitive risk assessments, would have to become a key part of occupational health and safety policies.”
Find out more about the Healthy Workplaces for All Ages campaign at the campaign website .
Hi, Hip, Hooray, and not a moment too soon for considering the much overlooked “working life-cycle” of Human Resources as well as the asset management of other non-organic production line equipment that, if not, benefiting from routine and planned maintenance also suffers significant deficits resulting in sub-optimal performance, productivity and increased risk of breaking down thereby, accelerating their rate of depreciation requiring early replacement and the costs that involve… Just a shame that we are now in 2016 solely depending on the Healthier Workplaces “nudge campaign” having failed to ratify the new, 2012 EU MSD Directive that contained the key… Read more »