The Ageing Workforce, Assessing the Impact and Preparing Solutions

I attended the Central Coast Safety Group meeting on Thursday which is held in Gosford every two months.

It is a great forum where safety professional shares ideas and systems that work for the organisation ….or not as the case may be.

Today’s discussion was on The Ageing Workforce, Assessing the Impact and Preparing Solutions and was presented by Bronwyn McNeill and Trina Moyes, Occupational Therapists from Recovre.

They spoke about the issues relating to the rising number of aging workers  now in the workplace with even more expected in the future. They also discussed the pros and cons of employing older workers.

While companies/ managers focus on the negative side of older workers there are many positive benefits e.g. their broad skills and experience make is less likely for the older worker to make rash decisions, higher rates of retention, greater reliability and increased positive attitude to safety, improved cogitative skills and because of the life’s experience appear to cope better with stress and at home.

Obviously there is the “age related” decline in physical capacity but overall if a risk management approach is taken then the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

The speakers were able to find solutions to all issues considered. It was interesting to listen to the comments and experiences from other professional people in the group and to note their approach to the challenge.

This is an everyday issue that is in every workplace in Australia and must be considered when reviewing the risk management program in every organisation.

For more information about the Central Coast Safety  Group and or risk management assistance please don’t hesitate to contact Roxayne West, Safety Services Australia on  +61 29634 5912.