Creating safer workplaces involves catering for the safety and wellbeing needs of employees of all ages.
Recently, through our Mutual Benefits Program, EML funded the Interventions to Support the Return to Work or Recovery at Work of Older Healthcare Workers Study conducted by conducted by the Healthy Working Lives Research Group at Monash University.
The aim of the study was to address the observation that with increasing age (generally from late 40s onwards) there is a noticeable reduction in return to work rates of injured healthcare workers. The study was conducted under the leadership of Dr Shannon Gray, Mr Luke Sheehan and Dr Ross Iles and the proposed interventions were co-designed with health sector employers and employees, insurers and other stakeholders.
The type of interventions recommended by this study included:
- Exercise (injury prevention)
- Lifting equipment and/or training (injury prevention)
- Claim specific education (when an injury has occurred)
- Return to work management (post injury)
- Workplace environmental changes
Our range of specific guides (based on the recommendations of this work), relevant articles, videos and resources we have available which provide support for organisations and their workers who are facing the unique challenges of an ageing workforce are available below: