Aging Workers: An Emerging Safety and Health Issue in the Mining Industry

1. Aging Workers: An Emerging Safety and Health Issue in the Mining Industry Barbara Fotta Surveillance, Statistics, and Research Support Activity Mining Division NIOSH / PRL

2. Mining Commodities • Bureau of Labor Statistics includes: • Oil & Gas • Coal • Metal • Nonmetal • Mine Safety and Health Administration includes: • Coal (bituminous and anthracite) • Metallic minerals (copper, iron ore, gold) • Nonmetal • Nonmetallic minerals (clay, trona, phosphates) • Stone (crushed stone, cement, dimension stone) • Sand & Gravel (unconsolidated)

3. Median Age of Workforce, BLS

4. Median Age by Mining Sector, 1998 Source: Current Population Survey, BLS

5. Number of Miners (in Thousands), by Commodity, MSHA, 1988-2000

6. Stakeholder Concerns About Aging Miners, 1998 • Impact on safety and health performance of the industry • Increase in musculoskeletal injuries • Increase in strains/sprains (handling materials) • Task demands and aging workers • Exodus of experienced miners to retirement • Current training doesn’t address safety and health issues relevant to older workers

7. Preliminary Surveillance Effort • Review occupational health and safety literature on older workers • Age distribution of miners in the various commodities • Injury experience of older miners

8. Overview • Brief summary of literature on aging workers • Age distribution of miners • Current Population Survey (BLS) • MSHA – age distribution of injured/ill miners • Examine differences in injuries reported to MSHA among different age groups and commodities

9. Factors Accelerating Aging of the Mining Workforce • Declines in employment • Increases in labor productivity • Economic factors • Low employee turnover • Union vs. nonunion operations • Intermittent vs. year-round operation • Skilled vs. unskilled labor

10. Aging As a Global Issue • Unprecedented increases in mean age of the population • Increases in life expectancy • Declining birth rates • Impact on mean age of working population • Research on aging and work (Northern Europe, Japan) • World Health Organization (WHO) Study Group on Aging and Working Capacity

11. Aging and Working Capacity • All capacities necessary to perform a given type of work (work ability) • Includes physical, mental, and social functional capacities • Work demands exceed work capacity • Decreased productivity • Work-related stress, diseases, and disabilities • Older workers defined as those 45 years of age and older

12. Physiological Changes with Aging • Decreases in sensory functions • Auditory • Visual • Decreases in motor functions • Muscular strength • Endurance • Decreases in cardiorespiratory functions • Aerobic power • Changes in the nervous system • Reaction time • Short-term memory

13. General Findings on Aging and Work Injuries • Fatality rates increase with increasing age • Lower injury rates for older workers • Injuries are more severe for older workers (multiple injuries) • Older injured workers require longer recovery times • Incidence and prevalence of chronic disease increases with increasing age

14. Exploring the MSHA Data • Employment in mining • Employee hours and numbers of employees • Mine-level, no demographic data • Accidents/Injuries/Illnesses • Census data • Miner-level injuries/illnesses • Occupation, age • Number of days away and restricted work days • Analyses exclude office workers and contractors

15. MSHA Injury/illness Reports • Shifts in the median age of injured/ill miners from 1988 to 1998 • Age distributions of injured/ill miners • Shifts in the proportion of older injured/ill workers over time (1988 – 1998) • Differences by commodity & occupation • Examine differences in injury recovery time for different age groups

16. Median Age of Injured/ill Miners by Commodity, MSHA, 1988 & 1998

17. Percent of Injured/ill Coal Miners by Age Group, MSHA, 1988 & 1998

18. Percentage of Older (45+ years) Injured/ill Workers by Commodity, MSHA, 1988 Vs. 1998

19. Percent of Injured/ill Miners Aged 45+ Years, by Commodity, MSHA, 1988-2000

20. Rate of Injury/illness (Per 100,000 Miners) by Commodity, MSHA, 1988-2000

21. MSHA, 1998 *in thousands

22. Differences Within Occupation • Coal has high proportions and the highest numbers of older injured/ill workers • Can examine the proportions of older injured/ill underground coal miners vary by occupation

23. Underground Bituminous Coal, 1998

24. Differences in Lost-time by Age Group • Lost-time injuries, MSHA, 1996-98 • Valid reports only • Median number of days lost • Three age groups • 18 – 34 • 35 – 44 • 45+ • By commodity, occupation

25. Median Days Lost by Age Group and Commodity, 1996-98

26. Underground Bituminous Coal, 1996-98

27. Summary • Higher proportions of older workers in mining • Within mining, higher proportions of injured/ill miners: • Coal, iron ore, alumina mills, cement, trona • Occupation: Supervisors, electricians, mechanics, surface equipment operators • Median number of days lost due to injury are higher for older than younger workers

28. Challenge • Fully utilizing the skills, experience, and knowledge of older workers to promote economic efficiency and productivity • Reevaluating tasks, the working environment, work organization to accommodate an aging workforce • Addressing lifestyle factors by promoting health programs

29. Metal Commodities, 1998 *in thousands

30. Nonmetal Commodities, 1998 *in thousands

31. Stone Commodities, 1998 *in thousands

32. Percent of Injured/ill S&G Miners by Age Group, MSHA, 1988 & 1998