Before the World Health Organization declared a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on March 11, workplace safety and health professionals already were looking at a future that included new technologies, nontraditional work arrangements, an aging and multigenerational workforce, impairment brought on by medical or recreational cannabis use, and workplace suicides and opioid overdoses.
The COVID-19 pandemic has added new concerns and responsibilities for workplace safety and health professionals. Recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for office environments include significant engineering and administrative changes ranging from repositioning workstations or installing plastic partitions to making major changes to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems. Recommendations for meat and poultry processing are similarly disruptive.
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COVID-19 currently is widespread in most U.S. communities and considered a workplace hazard. Recommendations for managing an ongoing pandemic may be in place indefinitely.
If researchers cannot find effective treatments or offer a viable vaccine, pandemic measures may need to stay in place for a while. The future of work for safety and health professionals also includes new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, drones, and the “Internet of Things.”
Current Tech, Future Tech
Sensors could be developed to detect workers’ exposures to biological, chemical, physical, and radiological hazards. The AIHA (formerly, the American Industrial Hygiene Association) has advocated for increases in government funding for the research and development of sensors and “big data.”
Data, including data from sensors, could produce knowledge and insights that safety and health managers can use to better protect workers, according to the AIHA. But methods of standardizing and interpreting data and retraining environment, health, and safety (EHS) professionals in data analytics are needed before “big data” becomes another tool in the safety manager’s toolbox.
The Future of Work initiative at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is examining a broad spectrum of subtopics under work, workforce, and workplace issues.
Work issues include the use of AI and machine learning; technologies like nanotechnology and advanced materials, sensors, and 3-D printing; and human-machine interactions and robotic exoskeletons.
The workforce issues include diversity and a multigenerational workforce, economic security, and a need for lifelong learning. Workplace issues include organizational design, technological job displacement, and work arrangements.
Older, Multigenerational Workforce
For the first time ever, safety professionals must protect a workforce that includes five generations: the “silent” generation (born between 1928 and 1945), the Baby Boomer generation (born 1946 to 1964), Generation X (born 1965 to 1980), Millennials (born 1981 to 1996), and Generation Z or Post-Millennial Generation (born 1997 to the early 2010s). On the positive side, a multigenerational workforce enables a transfer of expertise across generations. With declining birth rates and fewer replacement workers, employers will need to retain and protect older workers.
Older workers also have a reputation for lower rates of absenteeism and turnover and are injured less frequently, but when they do become sick or injured on the job, their illnesses and injuries can be more severe.
One in every 5 American workers is now over 65, and 1 in 4 American workers will be over 55, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Employment of workers aged 65 or older has grown by 117% in a span of 20 years, according to the BLS, and employment of individuals 75 years or older has increased by the same rate.
As the workforce ages, safety and health professionals also need greater knowledge about workers’ chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, depression and suicide, and substance abuse. Some conditions may make workers more prone to accident or injury, while others can exacerbate the effects of workplace exposures.
Source: EHS Dailyadvisor