Age-related injury and compensation claim rates in heavy industry.

BACKGROUND: Although ageing workers face specific health and safety concerns, conflicting evidence exists regarding the effects of age on workplace injury rates and workers' compensation claims. AIMS: To examine injury and workers' compensation claim rates by age and injury type in an aluminium smelter over a 9-year period. METHODS: Routinely collected data for workplace injuries and workers' compensation claims were retrieved for the period from 1997 to 2005. RESULTS: The study included a total of 709 workers who experienced 2281 at-work injuries and submitted 446 claims. In 1997, 16% of employees were aged 50 or over; by 2005 that proportion had more than doubled to 35%. Injury and claim rates in all age groups did not change significantly during this period. Workers younger than 30 years of age had the highest injury rates, with differences most significant for injuries other than sprains and strains. Claim rates were not significantly different across age groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings do not provide evidence to support the notion that older workers sustain more injuries and are more likely to claim compensation for their injuries. Our findings demonstrate that in this workplace, older workers were able to maintain their ability to work safely. This contrasts with the finding that younger workers had the highest injury and claim rates. While adapting to the needs of an ageing workforce, employers should not lose sight of the need to nurture a strong culture of working safely among their youngest workers.

Is there a risk to safety when working in the New South Wales underground coal-mining industry while having binaural noise-induced hearing loss?

BACKGROUND: Underground coal-mine workers suffer noise-induced hearing loss and continue working in the industry while having varying degrees of deafness. Few studies have researched the risk to safety arising from the loss of hearing. AIMS: This study is designed to investigate the possible association between hearing loss and accidents in the New South Wales underground coal-mining industry. METHODS: A study was conducted, gathering data over a 10-year period from 1994 to 2003, which identified 97 cases that have had accidents and 983 controls that have had no accidents. Hearing loss levels were noted and compared in the cases and controls. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine whether the variables were significant risk factors in the occurrence of accidents. RESULTS: Hearing loss levels in the total cohort varied from 0 to 54%. The proportion of cases with hearing loss appeared to be significantly higher in the young age group of <29 years than in the controls, but was not significantly different in the older age groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that workers who have lost up to 54% binaural high tone hearing and are older than 29 years do not appear to have an increased risk to safety when compared with workers who do not have hearing loss. However, workers in the young age group of <29 years who have high tone hearing loss may be at an increased risk of accident.