Is age only a number?

A new report from the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) investigates whether the
removal of the compulsory retirement age will have any implications for health and
safety at work. Dr Helen Beers, one of the report’s authors, summarises the findings

The removal of the compulsory retirement age, in
October 2011, was partly responsible for prompting
the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to ask: “Are there
any health and safety implications related to a post 65-year-old
workforce?” and “Are employers able to judge whether
workers have the functional capacity to work to the required
level of safe performance?”
A large body of literature exists on age and performance, and
previous work, undertaken by HSL in 2011, had already
identified that the relationship between age and performance is
not a straightforward one.

(www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr832.pdf)
In 2012 HSE commissioned a piece of work from HSL, which
was to focus on performance in safety critical work, and to assess
the existing evidence on age-related changes in performance.

The findings were believed to be of particular interest to major
hazard and safety critical industries,
where any deterioration in
performance could potentially lead to
an increase in the risk of major
incidents or injury. This research also
identified tools which could assist
duty-holders to assess human function
and performance.

Whilst there is evidence that as age
increases some abilities do decline,
this decline does not necessarily have
a negative impact on performance at
work. One reason for this is that
adaptations to the workplace have
been found to be highly effective in
compensating for any declines in
performance. Other reasons are that
abilities are matched to job
requirements and individuals use
strategies, expertise, skills and
experience to compensate for any
declines in functioning.

One decline that has been suggested
to have implications for performance,
in conditions that are unfamiliar or
outside of normal operating
conditions, is speed of decision making. This could potentially
lead to safety critical outcomes in situations where there is a high
demand on the individual and they are unable to use their
experience or expertise.

Evidence from the literature highlights how difficult it is to
identify the real impact of age-related changes on performance at
work, and thus to answer the question regarding the health and
safety implications relating to a post 65-year-old workforce. One
of the reasons for this is that many studies have been done in
simulated laboratory conditions which do not fully represent the
real world environment in which workers are required to
perform. Another reason is that individuals may choose to leave
a job, or be excluded following health screening. This potentially
means that there is an age-related inequality in exposure to risk
at work, and that any safety critical outcomes are avoided.

Future research
It is clear from reviewing the evidence in the literature that more
research is required on the performance of older workers. It is
also advocated in the literature that there should be a move
towards thinking about age in terms of ‘diversity in work ability’
as opposed to a chronological age cut off, and that a minimum
standard for work ability capacity needs to be established for
some occupations.

In order to begin to address the second question, regarding
whether employers are able to judge if workers have the
functional capacity to work to the required level of safe
performance, HSL found that a range of
tools and tests are available. However,
further research is required in order to
determine the extent to which they are
able to assist duty-holders in assessing
human function, capability and
performance. Many of the tools and
tests have been developed for very
specific purposes and contexts, hence
identifying the extent to which they can
be used generically by duty-holders
across all sectors and industries will
require further work.

HSE is considering a number of
proposals for future research during
2013. These include looking at
industrial exposure limits and the
relationship between reaction and
decision-making times in relation to
working after the age of 65.

One particular piece of work will
look specifically at the agricultural
industry as existing research indicates
that older farm workers are more likely
to be at risk of accidents than younger
workers. It has been predicted that
60,000 new farmers or farm workers will be needed in the next
decade causing a skill deficit. This of course could mean people
in this industry are more likely to work after they are 65.

To read the full report ‘Age related changes and safety critical
work’ visit: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr946.pdf

Dr Helen Beers is a business manager/ principal scientist at the
Health and Safety Laboratory