Aging Workers: An Emerging Safety and Health Issue in the Mining Industry

1
Aging Workers An Emerging Safety and Health
Issue in the Mining Industry

• Barbara Fotta
• Surveillance, Statistics, and Research Support
  Activity
• Mining Division
• NIOSH / PRL

2
Mining Commodities

• Bureau of Labor Statistics includes
• Oil Gas
• Coal
• Metal
• Nonmetal
• Mine Safety and Health Administration includes
• Coal (bituminous and anthracite)
• Metallic minerals (copper, iron ore, gold)
• Nonmetal
• Nonmetallic minerals (clay, trona, phosphates)
• Stone (crushed stone, cement, dimension stone)
• Sand Gravel (unconsolidated)

3
Median Age of Workforce, BLS
1962 1978 1988 1998 2008
Labor force 40.5 34.8 35.9 38.7 40.7
Mining 42.1 34.9 37.8 41.2 ?
4
Median Age by Mining Sector, 1998
Source Current Population Survey, BLS
5
Number of Miners (in Thousands), by Commodity,
MSHA, 1988-2000
6
Stakeholder Concerns About Aging Miners, 1998

• Impact on safety and health performance of the
  industry
• Increase in musculoskeletal injuries
• Increase in strains/sprains (handling materials)
• Task demands and aging workers
• Exodus of experienced miners to retirement
• Current training doesnt address safety and
  health issues relevant to older workers

7
Preliminary Surveillance Effort

• Review occupational health and safety literature
  on older workers
• Age distribution of miners in the various
  commodities
• Injury experience of older miners

8
Overview

• Brief summary of literature on aging workers
• Age distribution of miners
• Current Population Survey (BLS)
• MSHA age distribution of injured/ill miners
• Examine differences in injuries reported to MSHA
  among different age groups and commodities

9
Factors Accelerating Aging of the Mining Workforce

• Declines in employment
• Increases in labor productivity
• Economic factors
• Low employee turnover
• Union vs. nonunion operations
• Intermittent vs. year-round operation
• Skilled vs. unskilled labor

10
Aging As a Global Issue

• Unprecedented increases in mean age of the
  population
• Increases in life expectancy
• Declining birth rates
• Impact on mean age of working population
• Research on aging and work (Northern Europe,
  Japan)
• World Health Organization (WHO) Study Group on
  Aging and Working Capacity

11
Aging and Working Capacity

• All capacities necessary to perform a given type
  of work (work ability)
• Includes physical, mental, and social functional
  capacities
• Work demands exceed work capacity
• Decreased productivity
• Work-related stress, diseases, and disabilities
• Older workers defined as those 45 years of age
  and older

12
Physiological Changes with Aging

• Decreases in sensory functions
• Auditory
• Visual
• Decreases in motor functions
• Muscular strength
• Endurance
• Decreases in cardiorespiratory functions
• Aerobic power
• Changes in the nervous system
• Reaction time
• Short-term memory

13
General Findings on Aging and Work Injuries

• Fatality rates increase with increasing age
• Lower injury rates for older workers
• Injuries are more severe for older workers
  (multiple injuries)
• Older injured workers require longer recovery
  times
• Incidence and prevalence of chronic disease
  increases with increasing age

14
Exploring the MSHA Data

• Employment in mining
• Employee hours and numbers of employees
• Mine-level, no demographic data
• Accidents/Injuries/Illnesses
• Census data
• Miner-level injuries/illnesses
• Occupation, age
• Number of days away and restricted work days
• Analyses exclude office workers and contractors

15
MSHA Injury/illness Reports

• Shifts in the median age of injured/ill miners
  from 1988 to 1998
• Age distributions of injured/ill miners
• Shifts in the proportion of older injured/ill
  workers over time (1988 1998)
• Differences by commodity occupation
• Examine differences in injury recovery time for
  different age groups

16
Median Age of Injured/ill Miners by Commodity,
MSHA, 1988 1998
17
Percent of Injured/ill Coal Miners by Age Group,
MSHA, 1988 1998
18
Percentage of Older (45 years) Injured/ill
Workers by Commodity, MSHA, 1988 Vs. 1998
Commodity 1988 1998
Coal 24.8 44.4
Metal 27.5 38.5
Nonmetal 23.1 34.2
Stone 26.0 32.7
Sand Gravel 25.1 26.7
19
Percent of Injured/ill Miners Aged 45 Years, by
Commodity, MSHA, 1988-2000
20
Rate of Injury/illness (Per 100,000 Miners) by
Commodity, MSHA, 1988-2000
21
MSHA, 1998
Commodity Class Mine-level data Mine-level data Mine-level data Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners
Commodity Class No. employees No. mines No. injured/ill age 45
Coal 85.2 2,459 7,543 44
Metal 40.0 337 2,440 39
Nonmetal 23.5 789 1,164 34
Stone 68.0 3,808 4,262 33
S G 35.2 6,403 1,627 27
Total 251.9 13,796 17,036 38
in thousands
22
Differences Within Occupation

• Coal has high proportions and the highest numbers
  of older injured/ill workers
• Can examine the proportions of older injured/ill
  underground coal miners vary by occupation

23
Underground Bituminous Coal, 1998
Occupation No. Inj/ill age 45
Supervisory 427 55
Electrician/wireman 279 53
Mechanic/repairman 500 49
Belt/conveyor man 326 45
Laborer/utility man 942 45
Continuous miner op. 342 39
Shuttle car op. 399 38
Continuous miner helper 107 33
Roof bolter op. 1,075 30
Scoop op. 245 27
Total 5,403 42
24
Differences in Lost-time by Age Group

• Lost-time injuries, MSHA, 1996-98
• Valid reports only
• Median number of days lost
• Three age groups
• 18 34
• 35 44
• 45
• By commodity, occupation

25
Median Days Lost by Age Group and Commodity,
1996-98
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Underground Bituminous Coal, 1996-98
Occupation Median days lost by age group Median days lost by age group Median days lost by age group Median days lost by age group
Occupation 18 - 34 35 - 44 45 Total
Supervisory 20 14 26 20
Electrician 6 14 13 13
Mechanic/repairman 11 17 22 19
Belt/conveyor man 5 16 20 15
Laborer 7 18 21 17
Continuous miner op. 21 15 22 18
Shuttle car op. 7 11 21 12
Continuous miner hlpr. 7 21 21 19
Roof bolter op. 9 14 24 15
Scoop op. 6 19 21 15
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Summary

• Higher proportions of older workers in mining
• Within mining, higher proportions of injured/ill
  miners
• Coal, iron ore, alumina mills, cement, trona
• Occupation Supervisors, electricians, mechanics,
  surface equipment operators
• Median number of days lost due to injury are
  higher for older than younger workers

28
Challenge

• Fully utilizing the skills, experience, and
  knowledge of older workers to promote economic
  efficiency and productivity
• Reevaluating tasks, the working environment, work
  organization to accommodate an aging workforce
• Addressing lifestyle factors by promoting health
  programs

29
Metal Commodities, 1998
Metal commodity Mine-level data Mine-level data Mine-level data Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners
Metal commodity No. employees No. mines No. injured/ill age 45
Iron ore 7.4 30 549 46
Alumina 2.9 8 287 45
Lead/zinc 1.9 28 122 43
Silver 1.7 12 134 38
Copper 11.5 45 460 37
Gold 11.3 158 568 36
Other 3.3 56 320 24
Total 40.0 337 2,440 39
in thousands
30
Nonmetal Commodities, 1998
Nonmetal commodity Mine-level data Mine-level data Mine-level data Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners
Nonmetal commodity No. employees No. mines No. injured/ill age 45
Trona, potash, borate minerals 4.5 17 204 44
Phosphate rock 3.4 29 129 40
Clay, common 6.8 236 305 32
Other 8.9 507 526 31
Total 23.5 789 1,164 34
in thousands
31
Stone Commodities, 1998
Stone commodity Mine-level data Mine-level data Mine-level data Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners Injured/Ill miners
Stone commodity No. employees No. mines No. injured/ill age 45
Cement 10.8 101 917 44
Lime 3.2 66 256 38
Crushed 49.2 3,138 2,768 30
Dimension 4.7 503 321 18
Total 68.0 3,808 4,262 33
in thousands
32
Percent of Injured/ill SG Miners by Age Group,
MSHA, 1988 1998