The labor force in the United States is rapidly growing older. Older workers are more vulnerable to risks at worksites due to possible declining cognitive and physical abilities with age. Therefore, this trend of an aging workforce is a significant challenge for occupational safety and health as well as public health.
To better understand the aging workforce, this presentation will provide information on the trends of an aging workforce, how work affects work-related injuries and illnesses for different age groups, and how health status and work limitations are changing during the aging process. Multiple national data sources in the U.S. were analyzed for this study. While this presentation focuses on construction workers, the analyses include workers in all industries as comparison.
You will learn
- How age affects the safety and health of workers
- Patterns of fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries among older workers
- Health conditions and risk factors among older workers
- National data sources for safety and health research in the U.S.