The document discusses the aging US workforce and strategies for accommodating older workers. It notes that by 2020, 25% of the labor force will be over 55 and almost 17% will be over 65. Physical, physiological and psychosocial capabilities decline with age in ways that increase risks of musculoskeletal injuries. To address this, the document recommends taking a comprehensive ergonomics approach that involves engineering controls, education, and early intervention to identify and reduce injury risks for older workers.

1. BY KEITH
OSBORNE
ERGONOMIST FOR
SEATTLE CITY LIGHT
FOR AGING
WORKERS
DESIGN
ERGONOMIC
OF YOUR WORKFORCE—EXTENDING THE LIFE
20 THE LEADER vpppa.org

2. Unless you have been living somewhere without internet or cable service, you’ve probably heard that the
U.S. workforce is aging. In fact, you’re probably witnessing it firsthand—and now you’re the one tasked with
creating a safe and productive work environment that accommodates an aging workforce.
Y
ou might have also read these
statistics on the web or heard them
in the boardroom:
• In 2008, there were 28 million workers
over age 55. By 2016, that number is
expected to be almost 40 million, an
increase of 43 percent.
• Starting in January 2011, 10,000 people
turn 65 every single day and this will
continue through 2030.
• By 2020, an estimated 25 percent of
the labor force will be 55 and older and
almost 17 percent will be 65 and older.
• 79 percent of baby boomers say they don’t
plan on retiring at age 65.
• The average age of a high-skilled U.S.
manufacturing worker today is 56.
These demographics represent not
only challenges, but also opportunities
throughout industry today. At the very least,
the changing demographics of the U.S.
workforce deserve careful consideration as
companies develop safety programs moving
forward. In today’s business environment, it
is vital for companies to engage their aging
workers in a job that promotes healthy and
safe work performance.
Addressing the issue of the aging workforce
with workplace ergonomics programs,
education and training is becoming necessary.
A focus on proactive efforts to accommodate
the “seasoned” and gifted workforce today, will
result in a safer, healthier, more productive
and more competitive business, tomorrow and
down the road.
Losing the expertise of these workers
could have a drastic and negative impact
on your company’s operations. It is vital to
accommodate aging employees, who represent
some of your most knowledgeable and most
productive workers, to ensure their continued,
safe and productive work performance.
Characteristics of the
Aging Workforce
As workers age, their physical, physiological
and psychosocial capabilities and limitations
change. The more we understand these changes,
the better we can accommodate employees. We
must be proactive in our processes to ensure
actionable engineering and administrative
controls are in place to ensure ergonomic and
individual risk factors are addressed to keep our
workplace moving forward seamlessly with the
chronology of our workers.
Here is a brief summary of those risk factors
and changes:
Ergonomic Risk Factors: Force,
repetition and posture are ergonomic risk
factors that become magnified as we age
because the body has had those factors
impacting it over time, even in the best of
conditions. If these are not addressed within
a proactive ergonomics process, workplace
musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) issues
will develop at an even higher rate. A
proactive process can assist in keeping your
workforce healthier and more productive.
Individual Risk Factors: Some individual
risk factors that come into play are poor
work habits developed over time, poor fitness
habits and poor health habits.
Physical Changes: As people age, they
begin to lose strength, flexibility, balance,
sight, reaction time, speed, hearing, manual
dexterity and feedback and body fat.
Physiological Changes: Aging leads to
a decrease in maximum oxygen intake, rising
systemic blood pressure, fatigue and greater
susceptibility to extreme temperatures.
Psychosocial Changes: As workers
age, they have different shift preferences,
training and learning styles and employees
sometimes experience disenfranchisement
and disengagement with their work.
These characteristics of the aging workforce
put them at a higher risk of developing a
WMSD and other injuries. It is paramount
that reduction or elimination of these risk
factors occur to ensure a safer workplace.
So what can you do to help? Build a
comprehensive WMSD prevention process
that will identify and remove WMSD risk
factors. An essential component to an
effective WMSD prevention process
is ergonomics.
25 PERCENT of the labor force will
be 55 and older and almost 17
PERCENT will be 65 and older
BY 2020
BABY
BOOMERS
79 PERCENT of baby boomers say
they don’t plan on retiring at age 65.
28 MILLION
40 MILLION
2008
2016
In 2008, there were 28 million WORKERS
OVER AGE 55. By 2016, that number is
expected to be almost 40 million, an
INCREASE OF 43 PERCENT.
21THE LEADER vpppa.org

3. Ergonomics—Designing
the Workplace for an
Aging Workforce
Ergonomics is the science of designing the
workplace to fit the worker while keeping in
mind the capabilities and limitations of the
worker. The goal is to design jobs and tasks to
remove incompatibilities between the work and
the worker that impact safe work performance,
while maintaining productivity. This allows
you to prevent injuries, illnesses and mistakes
while improving overall worker health and
business performance. Here are some tips to
help with the designing of the workplace:
• Improve illumination and add color contrast
• Design the workplace with easily adjustable
surfaces to allow employees with different
body types to complete work, especially in
shared spaces
• Eliminate heavy lifts, elevated work from
ladders and long reaches
• Design work floors and platforms with
smooth and solid decking while still
allowing some cushioning
• Reduce static standing time
• Remove clutter from control panels and
computer screens and use large video displays
• Reduce noise levels
• Install skid resistant material for flooring and
especially for stair treads to help reduce falls
• Install shallow-angle stairways in place of
ladders when space permits, and where any
daily elevated access is needed to complete a
task, to help reduce falls
• Utilize hands free volume adjustable
telephone equipment
• Incorporate speech recognition software for
those who have difficulty typing
• Increase task rotation which will reduce the
strain of repetitive motion
• Lower sound system pitches, such as on alarm
systems, as they tend to be easier to hear
• Lengthen time requirements between steps
in a task
• Increase the time allowed for making
decisions
• Consider necessary reaction time when
assigning older workers to tasks
• Provide opportunities for practice and time
to develop task familiarity
In other words, ergonomics is about fitting
the work to fit the worker. When considering
how to accommodate the aging workforce, it is
as important as ever to match job demands to
worker capabilities.
Ergonomics and the
Aging Workforce
Ergonomically correct design accounts for
workers from the 5th percentile female to
the 95th percentile male. By designing jobs
and tasks with aging workers in mind, you’re
making the jobs and tasks safer and more
productive for everyone.
Follow these basic ergonomic principles to
help accommodate an aging workforce:
• Work in neutral postures. Working with
the body in a neutral position reduces stress
and strain on your musculoskeletal system.
• Allow for posture changes. Working in
the same posture or sitting for prolonged
periods of time is bad for you. Your body’s
musculoskeletal (or movement) system is
designed to move. Arrange workstations
and tasks to allow for changing postures.
Movement at any age is especially
important to allow muscles and the body
to refresh.
• Work from the “power zone.” The power
zone is also referred to as the “hand shake
By designing jobs and
tasks with aging workers
in mind, you’re making
the jobs and tasks safer
and more productive
for everyone.
22 THE LEADER vpppa.org

4. zone”—this is an easy way to remember the
optimal location to perform work.
• Provide good lighting. A common issue
with older workers is lighting. Visual acuity
deteriorates with age, so make sure work
areas are properly lit. The typical OSHA
guidelines for lighting may not be enough as
your workforce ages.
• Have a good grip. Providing “power
grips” instead of pinch grips for jobs and
tasks is another ergonomics “low hanging
fruit” to help accommodate aging workers.
Ensure issued PPE also addresses this. Use
gloves with additional grip built in to allow
employees whose grip strength may be
waning, the ability to perform certain tasks.
Following these ergonomic principles will
significantly reduce ergonomic risk factors that
contribute to WMSDs. However, removing
all risk factors that contribute to these injuries
requires a comprehensive approach.
Develop A
Comprehensive Approach
If your goal is to prevent musculoskeletal
injuries and to promote maximum safe
work performance, you need to identify
and remove WMSD risk factors as early as
possible. Companies that understand this
have proactive processes that assess job
tasks and get workers involved before work
is done to proactively mitigate issues. To
remove all WMSD risk factors, you need
a comprehensive process that includes an
ergonomics improvement process, education/
training and early intervention.
The ergonomics improvement process
should be a proactive one that will allow
you to identify ergonomic risk factors early
and then proactively mitigate their affects
by implementing both engineering and
administrative controls to the work process.
Education and training programs motivate
employees to accept responsibility for adopting
healthier work habits and lifestyle choices.
Implement programs that emphasize stretching
and fitness/wellness initiatives that will enhance
the overall wellbeing of the worker. The more
fit the “workplace athlete,” the more efficient
the work product produced, the higher the
quality with reduced errors and the better the
health status of the employee due to lower
injury rates.
Early intervention focuses on improving
employee health through proactive
management of WMSD signs. When early
action is taken to address an employee’s
report of fatigue or discomfort, causative risk
factors can be identified and principles of
prevention can be employed to resolve the
employee’s discomfort.
Conclusion
If you’re preparing for an aging workforce (or
you already have one), it is as important as
ever to be proactive and remember the basics
of WMSD prevention. The wave of an aging
workforce is already here and it is building.
Here are some key takeaways to remember:
• The demographics of the U.S. workforce
are changing rapidly: 10,000 workers turn
65 every day!
• Older workers are valuable workers
and represent a large portion of your
organization’s knowledge and skills.
• The ergonomics process removes barriers
to safe work performance, prevents injuries
and improves business performance. Be
proactive in your approach.
• Designing jobs and tasks for aging workers
benefits all! You keep your knowledge base
longer!
• A comprehensive approach that includes
ergonomics, education and early
intervention is needed to remove all
WMSD risk factors.
Keith Osborne is currently the ergonomist for
Seattle City Light. Previously, he worked as
an HSE Site Lead for Honeywell in Colorado
Springs for 11 years where he built two
OSHA best practice programs (ergonomics
and wellness) that were responsible for
proactively saving HTSI over $23M in four
years. He is responsible for the office and
industrial ergonomics/biomechanics programs
at Seattle City Light and has consulted on
corporate ergonomics and health and wellness
programs on numerous occasions. Keith is a
Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist
I/III, Certified Wellness Specialist, Master
Fitness Trainer, Six Sigma Greenbelt, published
author and OSHA Certified Ergonomics
Program Manager. He is also the recipient
of the HTSI HSE President’s Award and the
2014 Honeywell Aerospace Outstanding
Engineer and Innovator Award. Keith holds
two Bachelor of Science degrees in Applied
Management and Business Administration.
Keith has spoken numerous times at the
Region VIII VPPPA Conferences and VPPPA
national conferences as well as the National
Ergonomics Conference and Exposition.
ERGONOMICS AND THE AGING WORKFORCE
Work in
NEUTRAL POSTURES
Allow for
POSTURE CHANGES
Work from the
“HAND SHAKE ZONE”
Provide
GOOD LIGHTING
Have a
GOOD GRIP
23THE LEADER vpppa.org