Occupational health and safety of older construction workers (aged 55 or above) : their difficulties, needs, behaviour and suitability

Global aging population is one of the most significant changes in the recent decade. Increasing life expectancy and a declining birth rate creates an aging workforce. This paper aims to evaluate health and safety of older construction workers (aged 55 or above). Their difficulties, needs, behaviour and suitability are investigated. It is found that there is a severe aging problem in the construction industry. There is 1 older worker (aged 55 or above) for every 2 younger workers (aged under 55). The major injury of older workers tends to be musculoskeletal disorders instead of accidents, which are mainly due to their abundant experience. Their experience helps them to be aware of dangers and injuries, yet, it also causes them to ignore safety measures as they are over-relying on their own experience and judgment. Furthermore, findings also reflect that there is lack of special training for older workers from either companies or government. There is a demand to improve the current training arrangement, which can specifically cope with the needs and problems of older workers, and raise workers' self-safety attitude for improving the whole safety environment.