Adjusting work conditions to meet the declined health and functional capacity of older construction workers in Hong Kong

• Published in: Safety science 2020-07, Vol.127, p.104711, Article 104711
• Main Authors: Peng, Lu, Chan, Alan H.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accident; Accidents; Aging; Aging workforce; Cognitive ability; Construction; Construction accidents & safety; Construction industry; Health problems; Labor; Mental health; Occupational accidents; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Older people; Physical work; Shortages; Work capacity; Working conditions
• ISSN: 0925-7535; 1879-1042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104711

•Older construction workers were suffering with declining health conditions.•They also suffered with elevated occupational accident risks.•Health-related factors were crucial to their occupational safety.•Proper design of work conditions can relatively buffer the elevating safety risks. Aging of the workforce in Hong Kong has led to a labor shortage and increased occupational safety risks, particularly for physically demanding occupations. Work conditions should be designed to match the health and functional capacity of older workers to partly address the problems of labor shortage and safety. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 340 older (aged 50 and above) construction workers of Hong Kong in this study. The prevalence of health problems and occupational accidents suffered by older construction workers were investigated. The patterns of occupational accidents characterized by job demands, job resources, physical work capacity, and health conditions of workers were analyzed. Results showed that older construction workers suffered poor physical and mental health. The rate for severe accidents for older construction workers was considerably higher than for the younger workers. Physical work capacity and physical and mental health were critical factors that affected the occupational safety of older construction workers. However, the proper design of job resources and job demands to match individual health-related factors can mitigate the increasing occupational safety risks for older construction workers.