Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.P.H.

Degree Name

MS in Public Health (M.S.P.H.)

Degree Granting Department

Public Health

Major Professor

Rene' Salazar, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Thomas Bernard, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Luis Pieretti, Ph.D.

Keywords

Interventions, older worker, outcome, mechanism of action, powered industrial truck

Abstract

Over the past 20 years or so, the average age of the global population has slowly increased. This is due to low birth rates as well as increased life expectancy. With this global population aging, there has also been a shift in the global labor market causing a trend termed the “aging workforce.” However, with the aging workforce comes a new set of issues for the health and safety professional because they create new hazards. This is due mostly because of the body undergoing physical, psychological, and cognitive decline as someone ages which causes decreased capabilities. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine if the aging workforce is influencing incident ratios within a distribution warehouse and a chemical manufacturing building. In related literature, there seems to be two opposing conclusions about the aging workforce and incident rates: the aging workforce either increases incident rates or they decrease incident rates. However, both sides agree that the aging workforce seems to have an increased severity of outcomes causing them to have more days away from work. Within this study, data was collected from two different industries over a two-year span. The incident ratios were calculated by age group, while additional variables were analyzed within the data. The youngest age group had a moderate incident ratio, followed by a decrease in incidents for later age groups, with a spike of incidents in the 51-60 age group which then decreases again after age 60. For future studies, it is recommended that data be collected from additional industries as well as over a longer period to determine a stronger correlation between age and incident rates.

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