School of Risk Control Excellence

Workers’ Compensation

Aging and Obesity in the Workforce

1 Hour

Disclaimer

2

The information, examples and suggestions presented in this material have been developed from sources believed to be reliable, but they should not be construed as legal or other professional advice. CNA accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this material and recommends the consultation with competent legal counsel and/or other professional advisors before applying this material in any particular factual situations. This material is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to constitute a contract. Please remember that only the relevant insurance policy can provide the actual terms, coverages, amounts, conditions and exclusions for an insured. All products and services may not be available in all states and may be subject to change without notice. References to the services of external third parties are provided solely for convenience and CNA disclaims any responsibility with respect thereto. CNA is a registered trademark of CNA Financial Corporation. Copyright © 2011 CNA. All rights reserved.

3

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course you should be able to: ■ Describe the physical limitations affecting the aging workforce ■ Discuss the workforce demographics found in a plant that can affect injuries ■ Indentify factors that impact injuries in relation to obesity

4

What is the number one issue that will affect all industries in the United states besides the economy?

It will affect all industries and they will all be fighting over the same employees.

5 CURRENT POPULATION

 More than 40% of Construction workers are Baby Boomers.

 By 2015 – 55 million workers 45 or older. Nearly

half of all workers

will be considered aging.

 14 to 15 million people will be 65-69 in 2015.

 Those between ages 24 and 54 will only increase 5%.

 These demographics predict an exodus of

experienced

from this industry.

workers

Percent Growth in U.S. Workforce by Age: 2000-2020

6 80% 60% 40% 20% 7% 8% 0% -20% under 14 15-24 7% 3% 73% 54% 25-34 -10% 35-44 Age of Workers 45-55 55-64 65+ Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Current Worker Population

The point is:

• Those in the age range of 24 to 34 are not increasing. • Those 35-45 are projected to decrease.

• Those over 55 will be increasing.

• How are you going to keep your operations on

cost

and on

quality

?

7

Aging Workers: Creating the Environment for a Healthy Workforce: A Medical and Biomechanical Approach – R. Wayne Clifton, PE, CSP; Connie Vaughn-Miller, CPE

8

Baby Boomers

■ Has your organization recognized the need to leverage the aging workforce to produce on the job site or in the plant? ■ What about your competitors?

■ These fundamental questions must be reviewed!

9

Physical Limitations

■ Physical capabilities decline with age (around 50).

■ These relate to the following tasks: • Strength • • • • • Range of motion Speed of movement Fatigue Motor skills Balance Ergonomics, How to Design for Ease & Efficiency, Karl Kroemer, Henrike Kroemer, Katrin Kroemer-Elbert

AS WE AGE

 Maximal Strength  Muscle Mass  Bone density  Visual and Auditory Acuity  Fitness  Aerobic Capacity  Cognitive Speed/Function

10

 Obesity  Arthritis  High BP  Diabetes  Depression/Heart Disease  Menopausal/Post Menopausal Issues

Physical Limitations

(continued)

■

Driving and operating large equipment

requires responding continuously to spatial and temporal (time) information from the environment and equipment.

■ Motor control is critical for coordinating movements of the

head, neck, and upper and lower limbs.

■ Motor control is also critical when: ■ using powered and non-powered tools, going up and down ladders, manually handling materials and braking, steering, and turning. Also ability to work overhead, reaching, bending and kneeling.

■ Reduce

motor control can effect quality if critical measures

are needed.

11

Physical Limitations

(continued)

■ Strength decreases in older workers.

■ In construction job site settings, workers still have to lift, lower, push, pull, and carry material.

■ Many of the

designs and work task setups do not take this decrease in strength into consideration

. Thus, the older worker may not have the maximum strength to apply.

12

■ We have to look at the design to take advantage of: ■ Leverage ■ ■ Handle designs Mechanical advantages

13

Balance

■ The sense of balance is affected by age.

■ We can lose as much as 40% vestibular hair and inner ear nerve cells.

■ Combining vision and strength shifts, maintaining balance becomes a much more difficult endeavor. Examples: Ladders, scaffold, other elevated work, roof edges, etc.

■ Rethink how we are using these and who will be allowed to use them

14

Aging Trends – Average Loss Work Days

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 1.67

0 0 t o 18 10.4

Average Days Lost 19 t o 29 18.09

30 t o 39 31.3

40 t o 49 47.7

50 t o 59 37.8

60 t o 64 48.9

65+

With this in mind… Here are the key questions

 Is your workforce physically capable of doing their job now?

 Will your workforce be physically capable of doing their job 10 years from now?

 How many more bends, twists and lifts do they have left?

15

 What effect is this having on my company besides safety?

Controls and Suggestions

(continued)

16 Consider the following strategies:

1.

Review your organizations safety and engineering requirements

. Are job limits, work method techniques, and organizational policies accommodating to the known and expected capability shifts of older workers?

2.

Limit frequently changing job requirements.

Changing requirements negatively impacts older workers’ abilities to leverage past experiences.

3.

Allow older workers certain flexibility in approaching the job.

Let them leverage their knowledge and wisdom. Consider how they make the job easier for themselves. (only if methods are safe)

17

Controls and Suggestions

(continued)

Consider the following strategies:

4.

Leaner concepts;

- Reduce walking and climbing of ladders (fatigue) - Ergonomic workstation adjustments - Getting materials off the floor, 5. Improve illumination.

6. Reduce or eliminate heavy lifting and long reaches.

7.

Consider reaction time

when assigning older workers to tasks.

8.

Hiring

using Post offer Physical Capacity Evaluations

18

Areas for Management to Review

Demographic Analysis

■ What is the age of the workforce?

■ What is the total population?

■ List by job type.

■ Are more than 10% over 50?

■ What type of injuries are occurring?

■ ■ What will change in the next 5 to 10 years?

What is the profile of the future?

19

Areas for Management to Review

(continued)

■ ■ ■ ■ What are the risk factors creating the injuries?

What are the ergonomic/biomechanical Issues? How do the risk factors impact aging?

How is the aging work force impacting productivity?

■ ■ How can we begin to mitigate/reduce the risk factor?

Does transitional/return-to-work (RTW) take into consideration aging?

■ Do long term plans include aging?

Definitions of Obesity

■ Obesity: Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

■ Body Mass Index (BMI): A measure of an adult’s weight in relation to his or her height, specifically the adult’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters.

■ BMI was developed in the 1940’s, but is still used by today’s physicians.

20

CDC – National Center for Health Statistics;Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity and Extreme Obesity Among Adults: United States, Trends 1976-180 Through 2007-2008

21

Definitions of Obesity

■ Obese is generally defined as a BMI of 30.

■ Morbidly obese is defined as a BMI of 40.

■ Super obese is defined as a BMI of 50 or more.

Http://www.super-supplements-and-nutrition.com/super-obese.html

Scope of the Problem

■ The most

obese workers file twice as many WC claims

healthy weight workers.

as ■ The most

obese have 13 times more lost workdays

than healthy weight workers.

■ Workers Compensation medical claims cost are 6.8 times higher for the most obese workers.

■ Obesity could result in as much as 34.5% increase in healthcare costs for obesity-related health problems*

22

* Source: Thomas J. Bukowski.

Weighting down safety

Health and Safety Magazine, April 2013 from the Trust fo America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report Source: Ostbye, T.

Obesity and Workers Compensation.

Archives of Internal Medicine, April 23, 2007 Emerging Risks in Workers Compensation, Workers Compensation Educational Conference, Robert Hartwig, PHD, CPCU, President Insurance Information Institute

23

Scope of the Problem

(continued)

■ Indemnity costs are 11 times higher for most obese workers than healthy weight workers. ■ The body parts most prone to injury are: back, lower extremities, wrist, and hands.

■ The most common causes of these injuries were falls, lifting, and slipping.

Obesity Increases Workers Compensation Cost, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/68795.php

1/25/2010

Throat

AS WE AGE

Sleep Apnea

Increased fatigue and alertness

Heart

Cardiac Arrest, Heart Disease

Upper and Lower Arms Constricted blood vessels

Vibration Syndromes

24 Waist Large abdomen

May be difficult to fit into machinery or PPE

Face and Eyes

Incorrect use of PPE ■ More difficult to fit ■ Less Comfortable, less use ■ ■

Upper/Lower Back

Equipment Capacity limits- fall protection, ladders, bucket trucks Increased risk of back injury due to added upper body weight Safety and Health magazine – April 2013 Thomas J. Bukowski, Associate Editor

Lungs Asthma: dyspnea Shortness of breath

Decreases ability to take in air, increasing fatigue

Wrists and Hands Restricted blood flow

Vibration Syndromes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Arthritis

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) 1990 25 No Data <10% 10% –14%

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) 1999 26 No Data <10% 10% –14% 15%–19% 20%–24%

27

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults

28

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults

29

Percent of Obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. Adults

30

Obesity and Worker Compensation

■ Study released in July 2009 found California total annual estimated cost for overweight and obesity was approximately 41.2 billion.

■ Lost productivity costs associated with overweight and obesity was 8.2 billion.

The Economic Costs of Overweight, Obesity, and Physical Inactivity Among California Adults – 2006, www.publichealthadvocacy.org/costofobesity.html

31

CNA Claim Findings

■ ■ ■ CNA completed a survey of our workers’ compensation (WC) files.

WC adjusters were randomly selected with 10% of the adjusters and 8% of open or reopened files represented.

Findings: • 85% of respondents indicated that they have dealt with overweight/obesity issues on their claim files in the last six months.

• • 7% of claim files in the survey have overweight/obesity issues.

When asked to determine the effects of obesity (no effect, limited effect, some effect, or considerable effect), 58% indicated a considerable effect.

32

CNA Claim Findings

(continued)

■ Top two diagnoses on affected claim files were backs (47%) and knees (31%).

■ Male/female split for affected files was 50%-50%.

33

What Employers Can Do

■ Many companies have avoided identifying individuals who are obese because there is a perceived stigma of being discriminatory.

■ One of the solutions is to contact TrestleTree ® a company specializing on how to address the problem of obesity or offer voluntary programs and incentives for those who are motivated to take part.

What Employers Can Do

(continued)

34

■ Things to do: • Make on-site programs, like Weight Watchers work.

® , available at • Sponsor or subsidize health club memberships.

• Work with group health vendors to develop more programs to target obese populations.

• Implement a healthy eating campaign which should include healthy options in cafeterias and vending machines.

• Replace candy bowls with fruit bowls at the front desk

What Employers Can Do

(continued)

35

■ Things to do: • Encourage employees to walk during their lunch.

• Incorporate walking meetings when possible.

• Provide employee assistance programs for private counseling or community-based weight management programs. • Offer incentives, such as discount on health care premiums.

• Encourage the drinking of water instead of sugary drinks • Incorporate stretch breaks into meetings

36

Learning Objectives

Review:

■ Describe the physical limitations affecting the aging workforce.

■ Discuss the workforce demographics found in a plant that can affect injuries.

■ Indentify factors that impact injuries in relation to obesity.

37

Questions?

38