MAINTAINING WORK ABILITY IN OUTDOOR WORKERS – A LONG-TERM EVALUATION

P. Rothmore¹, S. Williams²

¹The University of Adelaide, School of Allied Health Science and Practice, Adelaide, Australia, ²The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

Background: The prevalence and costs of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are very high throughout the industrially developed world and are widely viewed as one of our largest health and safety problems. The challenge is compounded in countries and industries where the workforce is ageing and where retirement age has been extended to fulfil labour force demands. While the effects of prolonged exposure to workplace hazards may be easily managed for those employed in sedentary occupations, this may pose an unmanageable risk for older workers who are employed in physically demanding roles at a time when their work capacity may be declining.

Purpose: The purpose of this three-year study was to determine the effect on work ability in a cohort of workers before and after the implementation of a workplace intervention designed to address workplace hazards. In a sub-group analysis, we also sought to examine the long-term effect of the intervention on workers ≥50 years of age. Interviews with a range of participants were also conducted to understand their perceptions of the implementation and the effect of the intervention.

Methods: All employees of a large Local Government Council who were employed in outdoor work (n=245) were invited to participate. If informed consent was provided, they were surveyed using the WAI (Work Ability Index) and the APHIRM (A Participative Hazard Identification and Risk Management) toolkit. The WAI includes seven items which are used to generate an overall score for each worker. The APHIRM toolkit includes questions on employment, demographics, and a range of physical and psychosocial risk factors. WAI scores and the main hazards which were identified using the APHIRM toolkit were correlated using bivariate regression analyses to generate a list of hazards. Participants also participated in focus groups to identify potential corrective actions. Based on their responses an intervention was designed and implemented. Implementation was monitored by the organisation's Work Health and Safety Committee and the research team. The surveys were repeated after three years.

Results: Primary analysis, using a linear mixed-effects model, was conducted to detect changes in mean work ability scores between baseline and three-year follow-up for all workers who completed the surveys (matched and unmatched), and all workers who were ≥50 years of age (matched and unmatched). There were no significant differences between the two time periods. A secondary analysis, using bivariate linear regressions, was undertaken to examine associations between risk factors and work ability scores. This identified that six of the 18 psychosocial risk factors, and three of the eight physical risk factors associated with reduced work ability at baseline were no longer significant.

Conclusions: Indicators of work ability were stable over the three-year period in all our comparisons. Despite previous reports of a significant decline in work ability in ageing workers, we found no evidence to support this.

Implications: This project has demonstrated that the APHIRM toolkit can be successfully used to identify and assess workplace hazards. It can facilitate the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to address MSD risk which could contribute to the maintenance of work ability over time.

Funding acknowledgements: This work was supported by the participating South Australian Local Government Council.

Keywords:
Work ability
Intervention
Musculoskeletal

Topics:
Occupational health & ergonomics

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: The University of Adelaide

Committee: University of Adelaide Human Research and Ethics Committee

Ethics number: H2017-130