With the retirement age raised from 65 to 67 and the cost of living increasing, Australians are working to older ages than ever before and with it increasing their participation in the workforce.
There are many benefits in supporting your older workers to remain in your workforce, they tend to be loyal and have likely been with the business for a long time. There is often less absenteeism, and retaining older workers means that Employers are able to utilise their experience and knowledge, resulting in less hiring and training costs.
Whilst most work-related injuries occur within the 20-29 age bracket, if older workers sustain an injury, their recovery may take longer, and there is a higher risk that they may not be able to return to their pre-injury demands and may require permanent modifications or retraining.
We know that with age comes physiological changes, including:
- Reducing physical capacity
- Increased likelihood of occupational and/or chronic disease that tend to occur over time, some may take many years before the impacts are seen from activities such as hazardous manual tasks and industrial noise levels
- Vision and hearing may become impaired
- Risks of slips, trips and falls increase for older workers, resulting in longer recoveries, and
- Ageing may impact sleep and performance
We also know that Employers can support an ageing workforce by:
- Creating awareness and recognition of risks, and setting the expectation that we also support our older workers
- Ensuring safe systems of work are in place and implementing risk assessments considering changing physical and sensory capabilities
- Establishing open communication to ensure needs are voiced and met
- Creating a positive culture that values healthy workforces and lifestyles, and
- Implementing strategies such as re-skilling, flexible work conditions and transitioning to retirement options
We can’t stop the ageing process, and everyone will age differently. But we can think about preventative measures and Employers do have options to ensure the safety of their older workers in performing their roles.
Employers may consider options such as:
- Health screeningÂ
- Health and Wellbeing Initiatives
- Manual Handling and other refresher training
- Redesigning work tasks
- Functional Assessments
- Fitness for Duty AssessmentsÂ
- Tailored exercise (pre-hab) programsÂ
- Early Intervention Programs
At Precision Physio, we have Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists who work together with a focus on improving overall independence and wellbeing post injury. But you don’t have to wait for an injury to occur.Â
Our Exercise Physiologists can conduct an initial functional assessment and based on this, factoring in the job demands, a tailored program can be developed to help keep your workers fit, strong and capable of performing the demands of their roles safely, and for longer.
How Do I Book An Appointment?
We’re taking the health of our clients, members and staff very seriously and our preference would be for you to call to book an appointment so that we can make sure to explain our approach to keeping you safe. You can call any of these numbers to schedule a session:
- Precision Physio Concord: 02 9736 3950
- Precision Physio St Marys: 02 9623 2220
- Precision Physio Mt Druitt: 02 9188 2552
Online Consultations
Evolving with the current environment, we are also now offering online appointments, meaning that we can support anyone who is unable to leave their home. Sessions are done via our state of the art Telehealth system and as long as you have a laptop or tablet with an inbuilt camera, or a phone with camera, we can help!
To learn more about online consultations, please call us on any of the numbers listed above.
