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Download fileFacilitators and barriers to the protection and promotion of the health and safety of older workers
journal contribution
posted on 2017-08-11, 12:31 authored by Carolyn Drake, Roger Haslam, Cheryl Haslam© 2017 Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Individuals may experience health issues or physical, sensory or psychological capability changes related to ageing. With the removal of the default retirement age in the UK, older workers can remain in work well into later life. Health and safety statistics, however, indicate that they are a vulnerable group. Older workers have much to contribute, but employers have a responsibility to examine the working environment to protect those with reduced capabilities. This article reviews two qualitative studies examining the facilitators and barriers to implementing age management strategies to promote the health and safety of older workers. The findings reveal that employers are uncertain how to proceed with implementing actions to protect older workers. Discussions with older workers reveal they do not feel supported or engaged. They are fearful of reporting any capability changes that may affect their ability to perform work tasks as they believe this may have negative consequences for their future employment. A co-ordinated multi-disciplinary approach between human resources, operational management, health and safety specialists and occupational health functions is required.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Policy and Practice in Health and SafetyVolume
15Issue
1Pages
4 - 18Citation
DRAKE, C.M., HASLAM, R. and HASLAM, C., 2017. Facilitators and barriers to the protection and promotion of the health and safety of older workers. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 15(1), pp. 4-18.Publisher
© Taylor and FrancesVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2017-01-29Publication date
2017-02-19Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Policy and Practice in Health and Safety on 19 Feb 2017, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1289453ISSN
1477-3996eISSN
1477-4003Publisher version
Language
- en