Ageing workers’ health a concern for coal industry

According to O’Neill, rates and severity of coal mining injuries increase with workers’ age. Employers should take note, then, when the Treasury Intergenerational report estimates that over the next 40 years, workforce age will increase –with the ratio of traditional working age people compared to those over 65 years set to halve.

O’Neill said that 59% of NSW coal miners are in the 40-59 year age bracket, compared to a nationwide Australian Bureau of Statistics figure of 29% in the 45-59 year age bracket.

“When you look at injury data, what we see for an ageing workforce is both an increase in the number of injuries and the length of the injury,” O’Neill said. “We see when we look at the data for the NSW coal industry both an increase in the rate and severity of injury as workers age.

“We don’t see that trend changing. It has been fairly consistent over the last few years and we have seen more older workers coming back into the industry over the years, with pre-employment medicals for workers that are close to 70 years old. It is certainly something that employers are going to have to address.”

The manual handling capacity of a 65 year old worker may be half that of a 25 year old, O’Neill said. This is a particularly pressing issue for coal mining. Safe Work Australia statistics show that 41% of all serious workers compensation claims were related to manual handling. In the mining industry on its own, 78% of serious claims resulted from physical injury.

Compounding the issue, Safe Work Australia reported that coal mining employed 22% of mining industry workers but lodged over 30% of serious workers compensation claims, compared to metal ore mining, which employed 34% of workers yet lodged only 25% of serious compensation claims.

 O’Neill outlined four key steps coal companies can take to accommodate issues around an ageing workforce:
• Implement workplace wellness programs. There is good evidence that proves work-place programs focussed on improving health are effective. Recent evidence has shown that employers can expect a significant return on investment for money spent on these programs. Specifically, with fitter and healthier employees, an employer could expect to see a reduction in absenteeism, turnover, injuries, stress, claims and compensation costs.
• Encourage employees to visit a doctor annually for a full check-up. Annual visits to the doctor can be a lifesaver. Many health conditions that pose a serious risk can be effectively treated if diagnosed early.
• Start the process of looking at the work-place to identify the barriers to good health and consider ways to implement change. The NSW coal industry as a whole must look at how it mitigates risks associated with lengths of shifts and associated fatigue factors, shifts that interfere with normal sleep patterns, shift breaks and job rotation, all of which can significantly impact on the health and wellbeing of the workforce.
• Ensure that all coal workers have their three yearly periodic health surveillance medical, as stipulated under Order 41, to provide regular health assessments and increase the chances of preventative, rather than reactive, treatment.

The NSW Government recently gazetted Order 41 under the Coal Industry Act. Order41 stipulates standards and guidelines for health professionals that carry out assessments. Also, employers must ensure that coalmine workers are assessed every three years, which is designed to establish and monitor a health baseline for workers.