September 18, 2014

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Ageing workforce: the risks for construction

Comment: Stephanie Eaves, PhD student, Loughborough Design School

elderly-people

A third of the working population will be over 50 by 2050, according to a government report

We are currently experiencing an ageing population, which is contributing to an ageing workforce.

In October 2006 it became illegal to discriminate against a worker on account of their age, as well as an abolishment of the official retirement age and the state pension age being increased to 68 by 2046. All of these factors contribute to the prediction that by 2050 nearly a third of the working population will be aged 50 and over.

Construction is well known for being a tough, heavy manual industry where injury and ill health are common place. Construction workers are required to perform repetitive movements such as twisting, turning and lifting in awkward and cramped positions for long periods of times, often in dark, dusty and noisy working environments with little natural light or ventilation.

These conditions could easily exacerbate the natural declines seen in ageing such as a reduction in visual and hearing ability and reduced muscle strength and stamina.

Construction

As part of a larger PhD project from Loughborough University sponsored by Age UK’s Research into Ageing Fund, an interview study was conducted. 80 construction workers aged from under 25 to over 50 with trades including bricklayers, electricians, carpenters/joiners and plumbers were asked about their jobs, their health and well-being at work and whether they had any ideas to improve their working environment to help healthy ageing in the construction industry.

Workers of all ages and trades demonstrated an acute awareness and understanding of their health and well-being at work, and proposed over 300 creative and innovative ideas to preserve their health and well-being and facilitate healthy working behaviours in the industry.

Innovation

Over 90 per cent of the workers interviewed had already made changes to the way they work in order to preserve their health; changes included being more aware of the weights that they lift and how they lift them, sharing jobs and using assistive machinery. New ideas included more innovative and interactive toolbox talks to ensure the impact is really made, having better toilet facilities and changing rooms and homemade personal protective equipment such as light-weight knee pads made out of lagging.

Apprentice shortage

Older workers in particular were concerned with the lack of apprenticeships in trades as they felt there were no younger workers to pass their expertise and experience down to.

Pro-active

Workers of all ages noted that they took a more proactive approach to health outside of work, whether this be attending a gym or recreational sports, taking vitamins and supplements or even warming up and stretching before strenuous work tasks such as plastering.

Overall, the number of ideas proposed and suggested by these workers demonstrates the potential for the workforce to be involved in change in the industry; change which is necessary if construction workers are to be able to age healthily and remain in work for as long as they wish.

 

What makes us susceptible to burnout?

In this episode  of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.

We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.

stress

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david gilroy
david gilroy
9 years ago

Assuming this is a snapshot of Stephanie’s dissertation (which usually contain a minimum of 20K words). What are her conclusions and recommendations on this issue.

Stephanie Eaves
Stephanie Eaves
9 years ago
Reply to  david gilroy

Hi David, thank you for your comment. I am still conducting research for my PhD which is due to be completed late 2015. I am hoping to produce a participatory ergonomics framework to encourage engagement of the construction workforce. So far I have concluded that workers have good, creative ideas regarding their health and well-being at work and how they can improve and maintain this. I am hoping to recommend use of participatory ergonomics techniques in order to engage the workforce in healthy working behaviours and practices. I hope this answers your question.