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Helping Baby Boomers Overcome Challenges, Part 1 of 3
Forget Freedom 55. Today's workers are putting off retirement for many reasons. Some have to work longer to put children through college. Others wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they were retired. For employers, this is a welcome trend. After all, many companies are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to find qualified replacements for experienced workers. However, with the advantages of qualified workers come a few disadvantages.
The Advantages of a Boomer Workforce
As a supervisor of workers of all ages, you are probably aware of some of the advantages of having older workers in place:
- Their experience means that they understand the safety and production expectations associated with their jobs.
- They tend not to be as "me focused" as younger workers and are therefore less likely to question management's requirements of them.
- They respect teamwork.
- They are generally less prone to engage in risk-taking behaviors on the job.
The Challenges of a Boomer Workforce
On the other hand, your older workers present some challenges:
- They may be set in their ways and less open to learning and using new skills, including safety-related information.
- They may struggle with complex instructions or assignments where multi-tasking is required.
- Because of downsizing, everyone is expected to work harder. When older workers push themselves as though they were 20, they are more prone to injury and aches and pains.
- In addition to being more prone to injury, baby boomer workers may now be hard of hearing, have failing eyesight or suffer from other ailments that render them more vulnerable.
- Older workers generally take longer to recover from the injuries they do suffer.
The 5 Skill Areas
Robert Pater, managing director of Strategic Safety Associates/MoveSMART, of Portland, OR, says that there are five key skill areas for promoting safety and health with an aging workforce.
"There are five key areas that are affected by aging and have, in turn, negative potential for increased injuries and occupational problems," says Pater:
- Balance;
- Agility;
- Energy;
- Focus;
- Strength.
Conclusion
Workers at any age can be taught skills that can keep them healthier and less prone to injury on and off the job. And one noteworthy attribute of baby boomers is that they don't give up easily. To help your workers find ways to compensate for age-related challenges, you can enhance these five skill areas to promote safety and health within an aging workforce. We'll look at how next week.
THIS DATE IN HISTORY
May 15, 1929
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| The Cleveland Clinic Disaster |
Fires in crowded buildings are never a good thing. But when that building is a facility dedicated to caring for the sick, the potential for catastrophe becomes enormous. The greatest such disaster in a U.S. medical facility took place on this date in 1929.
It happened at the Cleveland Clinic. The fire started in the basement of the building at 11:30 am. According to a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report dated June 1, 1929, gases released from the decomposition of nitrocellulose X-ray film stored in the basement ignited, triggering several explosions. The source of ignition might have been heat from the steam pipes, the light bulb hung just above the film storage shelf or a discarded match or cigarette.
There was no automatic sprinkler protection in the building. To make matters worse, the ventilation shafts provided a convenient corridor throughout the entire building for the poisonous and explosive gases. There were 225 people in the building at the time. Before it was over, more than half of them would lose their lives. Of the 123 fatalities, 80 were patients or visitors; the rest were employees - including Dr. John Phillips, one of the founders of the Clinic. Most of the victims died as a result of inhaling toxic gases.
Many doctors and nurses died at their desks, others in the stairwell and still others outside the building.
The NFPA report was critical of the Clinic's use of nitrocellulose X-ray films, as opposed to "safety" films, as well as of its storage practices. While investigators ultimately found that the Clinic was not to blame for the incident, the tragedy led Cleveland to enact a law mandating fire departments to equip their firefighters with gas masks, and to adopt new standards for the storage of hazardous materials in medical facilities.
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