Female and Mature Age Workers: Workplace Injury Trends

Introduction: Shifting Demographics in the Workforce

Several implications surround the increasing numbers of female and mature age workers in the workforce throughout the world, not the least of which involve job-related injuries, insurance coverage, and workers' compensation settlements. Several factors have contributed to this occurrence, including an overall improvement in health and living conditions furnished by technological advances, longer life spans, and numerous sociological factors that enable and encourage women to become financially independent and self-supporting. All of these aspects of the contemporary workforce indicate that the trend of women and mature age laborers entering and maintaining positions in diverse industries and occupations is not likely to change or decline in the years to come. As such, it becomes important to examine what effects these particular segments of the labor force will have on the workforce — and to determine what, if any, ramifications their burgeoning presence holds for this resource so vital to global economies. The results of such analysis consistently demonstrate that age and gender are definite contributing factors to the costs, duration, prevalence, and severity of work-related injuries.

Although it is a confirmed fact that women outnumber men — significantly so in certain populations — throughout the world, it is worth noting that even with the increased presence of women in the workforce, men are injured more frequently and incur fatal injuries far more often than their female counterparts. Several reasons account for this, one of the most salient being the types of occupations each gender tends to occupy. Although examples of either sex can be found in most professions, some careers — such as construction — are predominantly occupied by men and carry inherently high injury and mortality rates. Occupations such as mining, construction, and farming have leading mortality rates, and while women may work in these fields, they do so far less frequently than men.

Gender Differences in Workplace Injury

On the whole, women tend to occupy positions that are more nurturing and supportive in nature, while men more commonly hold managerial, technical, or physically demanding roles. Women can more frequently be found in employment roles involving high levels of repetition, little autonomy, and limited decision-making power — all of which shape the types of injuries they are most likely to incur. Even in cases where men and women occupy the same positions, men are typically paid more, advanced further and sooner, and assigned different tasks. These factors, combined with the domestic responsibilities many women carry outside of the workplace, help explain why work-related injuries among women frequently include stress-related illness and musculoskeletal disorders — the latter of which may involve chronic problems with their backs, hands, and knees.

Just as it may surprise some to learn that women suffer fewer work-related injuries than men despite outnumbering them, it may be equally surprising to learn that younger laborers — particularly those between the ages of 15 and 24 — are far more likely to sustain on-the-job injuries than mature age workers, who are often assumed to be more frail and vulnerable. This tendency becomes even clearer when examining the number of emergency room visits related to workplace injuries among 15- to 24-year-olds compared to those of mature age workers, as research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustrates.

Several characteristics of mature age workers contribute to their decreased likelihood of injury. These include the considerable advantages of professional experience, heightened vigilance and familiarity with safety measures, and the extended time they have had to develop coping mechanisms for the hazards specific to their careers. Additionally, the most physically vulnerable mature age workers are likely to have already retired or withdrawn from the workforce, leaving only the most capable and prudent laborers still active at advanced ages.

The general perception, however, is that while mature age workers are less likely to be injured at work than their younger counterparts, when they are injured their injuries tend to be more costly, more prolonged, and more severe. In fact, there are a number of reasons that make it more difficult for mature age workers to receive workers' compensation than for younger laborers. The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 prohibits incapacity benefits for laborers aged 65 and older, meaning they are not eligible for payment for time away from work due to injury. Such payment has traditionally been the largest component of workers' compensation costs.

Mature Age Workers and Injury Risk

What is definitively confirmed is that mature age workers — loosely defined as those 55 years old or older — are more prone to fatal workplace injuries than virtually any other age group, as studies conducted by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate. This stands in direct contrast to the finding that younger workers (between the ages of 15 and 24) are injured more frequently. Younger workers tend to incur a greater number of temporary injuries from which they eventually recover, while mature age workers are more likely to suffer fatal injuries or permanent disabilities.

The end result is that both age groups represent considerable risk of physical and psychological harm in the workplace, though they do so at two different levels of severity for employers, insurance companies, and workers' compensation systems. Both the duration and the amount of remuneration associated with injuries among younger laborers are significantly lower than for their older counterparts. Although younger workers have a higher rate of on-the-job injuries, mature age workers experience far greater severity in the nature of their afflictions. It should be noted, however, that the total number of injuries may be a more determining factor for employers and insurance companies, since the vast majority of workplace injuries are typically temporary disabilities.

These findings for mature age workers are somewhat tempered by the tendency of older workers to retire — particularly once they reach the age of 65. While the standard perception holds that older workers will be less productive than younger workers due to physical and psychological decline, this view is partially refuted by the retirement patterns of older laborers, many of whom willingly cease working before age 65.