Older Workers: Are we meeting their OH&S and Workers' Compensation needs?

The number of “older” workers is rising at an unprecedented rate.  Older workers- those age 65 and older- have always been present but their proportion in the workforce has been on the rise at rates that far exceed any change in their proportion of the population. 

For my recent presentations to audiences in the US, Canada and Australia, I customized the country-specific data on older workers.  Aside from scale, the charts from each country were remarkably similar. In each of those countries, data about older workers shows:

• Workers over the age of 65 are increasingly continuing in, returning to, and entering the workforce
• Older workers are increasing in both full and part-time categories
• The trend has picked up pace since the early 2000s

Older workers are an increasing reality in the workforce

The phenomenon has not gone unnoticed.   Recent articles in the popular press have highlighted this change. 

“More than 53 per cent of Canadian men aged 65 or older were working in some form in 2015, including 22.9 per cent who worked full-time throughout the year, compared with 37.8 and 15.5 per cent, respectively, in 1995…”  [Michelle McQuigge, “More older Canadians choose to keep working, census finds,” McLean’s / The Canadian Press . Nov 29, 2017 ]

“Overall, 255,000 Americans 85 years old or older were working over the past 12 months. That's 4.4 percent of Americans that age, up from 2.6 percent in 2006, before the recession. It’s the highest number on record.”  [Andrew Van Dam, “A record number of folks age 85 and older are working,” Wonkblog Analysis , Washington Post, July 5, 2018]

“[T]he number of people over 65 remaining in the workforce has increased from 9.4 per cent in 2006 to 21 per cent in 2016.”  [Gegory Bray, “Older workers are still clocking on beyond retirement age”, The Observer, July 12, 2018]

The US quarterly data demonstrate this dramatic increase.  The 1999-Q4 count was just under 4 million workers age 65 and older.  By 2018-Q2, the number was just shy of 10 million.  And employment is not limited to those in their mid-to-late sixties.  Older workers who are farmers, clergy, or supreme court justices may make headlines but workers in their seventies, eighties and beyond are increasingly represented across a broad spectrum of occupations. 

“A record number of folks age 85 and older are working.
Overall, 255,000 Americans 85 years old or older were working over the past 12 months. That's 4.4 percent of Americans that age, up from 2.6 percent in 2006, before the recession. It’s the highest number on record.”[ Andrew Van Dam, “A record number of folks age 85 and older are working. Here’s what they’re doing,” Washington Post [Wonkblog-online], July 5, 2018]

Similar trends in US, Canada and Australia

Using employment data from the US Current Population Survey (CPS).  Employment of those over age 65 has risen from about 10% of the population in that category in the early 1980s to 19% in 2018-Q2 [extracted from CPS using Unadjusted Employment – Population Ratio- Quarterly data].   

Charting this phenomenon in terms of full and part-time work shows trends that persisted despite the global economic crisis of the early 2000s—and may have accelerated, in part, because of it.  For the Canadian data, I compared the growth in both full and part-time employment to the change in population category. This chart is based on a CANSIM extract of monthly employment data, not seasonally adjusted. 

For a recent Australian presentation, I looked at monthly data but restricted the extract to categories of workers who identified and “full time” and reported 35 hours or more of work in the previous week.  For the part-time, I selected only those who identified as working part time and reported from one to 34 hours of work in the previous week. These restrictions likely understate the count but provide solid evidence of a steep increase in the working populations in both full and part-time categories. 

Implications for older workers … and those who will eventually joint their ranks

What are the implications of increasing numbers of older workers?  There are risks to workers themselves.  While there is strong evidence that work is actually good for your health and well-being, older workers have some greater risks:

Bodies change with age putting different joints and systems at risk of injury and disease

• Co-morbidities tend to increase with age, a factor that may complicate risk
• Working more years increases exposure to toxins and processes associated with work (thereby increasing the possibility of occupational disease)
• Recovery times for many injuries increase with age
• Degenerative conditions and the processes of normal aging may increase the risk of injury for previously “safe” work
• Medications necessary to control common conditions associate with age may alter perception, reaction times, strength, tolerance and stamina changing the factors that influence risk (and recovery). 

Some implications for Employers

Employers have a duty to protect all workers and older workers may face different risks as they age, even if they are in the same occupation and work location.  A female care aide in a long-term care facility always faces slip and fall risks but the risk of fracture as a consequence of that fall climbs sharply with age.  Employers need to know how risks change with age and take steps to reduce risk and prevent injury.

We all know older individuals who are extremely fit in mind and body.  We know that an astronaut can effectively do that job in his late seventies and that there are marathon runners in their 90s.  We all age but we age individually.  Arbitrarily banning all those over 80 from driving would be ageism; functional testing can avoid some arbitrary age limits.  How testing might be applied to power-line electricians, transport vehicle operators, or airline pilots may be successfully implemented but there are still risks.  Commercial airline pilots face age restrictions in some countries but the maximum age limit may be 60 or 65, apply to either or both captain and co-pilot, and may be absent all together in some countries.  Employers and regulators must address these risks for the safety of all their workers and others in the workplace.

We know that “newness” to a job is a risk factor for work-place injury.  Many older workers may be engaging in new jobs or working in new locations that may carry different risks from past experiences.  Employers must avoid the pitfall of assuming age, knowledge and experience obviate the need for orientation and risk-specific awareness. 

And for workers’ comp (and disability) insurers and law makers

Public policy decisions are developed in a context that often includes limited data. Most data sets are historical and that typically means legislation is driven forward while looking in a rear-view mirror. 

Laws or policies that have an inherent assumption of retirement at a specific age or based on historical norms are no longer adequate.  The default assumption that, but for a work injury or disability, retirement would have occurred by age 60 or 65 is no longer be justifiable.  Wage continuance and compensation for injured or disabled workers beyond age 65 ought not to be arbitrarily limited when societal expectations have changed so dramatically.

There are implications for rehabilitation and return-to-work practice as well.  Disability management professionals and return-to-work coordinators will increasingly face accommodation challenges for older workers who anticipate and expect to work rather than be steered to a pre-mature and unwanted departure from the workforce.  With societal acceptance and even need for older workers, the parameters of “early retirement” may well move north of 70.

Changing expectations of when we will retire

In the 1980s and 90s, the expectation of “freedom 55” was common among the working population.  According to recent surveys of the working population:

• In  the US [2017 data], the majority of workers (53 percent) plan to work past age 65, (13 percent plan to never retire). [Transamerica, 18^th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey: A Compendium of Findings About American Workers, June 2018, TCRS 1364-0618]
•  In Australia [2016/17 data], 50% of workers intended to retire between 65 and 69 years (53% of men and 47% of women) and 20% intended to retire at 70 years and older (22% of men and 18% of women) [Australia Bureau of Statistics,  6238.0 - Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia, July 2016 to June 2017, December 20, 2017]
• In Canada [2015 Census Data], Over 53 per cent of men and 38 of women aged 65 or older were working.  [ Statistics Canada, Census in Brief: Working Seniors in Canada,  Release date: November 29, 2017]

           

The reality of an increasing population of older workers requires adjusting our expectations and actions toward employment, prevention/OH&S, and workers’ compensation.  The trend toward greater participation of older workers in the labour force is not going away.     It is time to reassess policies and our own perceptions regarding the length of our working careers.