美国建筑业的大龄农民工以及职业受伤的情况外文翻译资料

Aging Workers and Trade-Related Injuries in the US Construction Industry

Construction is one of the largest industries in the United States and employs about 9.1 million workers. Construction employment is expected to grow by approximately 2 million wage-and salary jobs between 2010 and 2020, more than double the growth rate projected for the overall US economy. The construction industry is consistently ranked among the most dangerous occupations and accounts for a disproportionately large percentage of all occupationally related illnesses, injuries, and deaths. Moreover, the number and proportion of older workers in the United States is increasing. Between 1985 and 2010, the average age of construction workers jumped from 36.0 years to 41.5 years. As workers age, many of the tasks they used to complete easily may become increasingly difficult. According to the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, physically demanding jobs present the danger of more severe injuries and longer recovery times incurred by older workers. Physical activities associated with individual trades may also increase the cases of worker injury and may lead to worker carelessness or shortcuts. Factors that increase the aging workerrsquo;s potential for injury include muscle weakness, balance problems, vision problems, and side effects from medicines. Older worker groups had lower injury rates, but when older workers were injured, recovery times were longer compared with those of younger workers. Also, the population of older workers that forgo retirement because of various factors (e.g., better health, changes in social or retirement policy, lack of younger replacement workers, economic need, or desire to change careers) is growing. In many ways, the trend of older workers remaining in the workforce can be beneficial for the nationrsquo;s economy. Their expertise is valuable, and many companies prefer to keep their older employees as long as possible. Despite the challenges of the aging workforce, there are only a few studies about injury-related absences in construction and even fewer as the injuries relate to the age and trade of heavy/highway contractors. The purpose of this study was to identify any trends of injury type as it relates to the age and trade of the heavy construction workers.

With older workers becoming more prevalent within the construction industry, there is a growing need for a sustained focus on aging worker health and safety. Businesses that change their perceptions of older workers, including their value and contribution to the workplace, will be in front of the curve to take advantage of the changing demographics. Older workers bring the benefit of desirable construction experience to the workplace. They often have specific knowledge of construction methods—usable tools such as process management and material handling—that can help improve productivity and bring safety to the workplace. Understanding the older worker, changing the work environment to accommodate them, and changing the way we train adults will create a healthier, safer, and more productive workforce for the largest working population in the United States. However, older workers are at a disadvantage when it comes to overall task performance. Older workers have decreased capacity in areas such as vision, hearing, strength, balance, and response time. Although much of the literature does not explicitly state that older workers suffer increased error rates, it does show this factor to be a concern. To accommodate seniors in the workplace, employers must acknowledge that these workers are a valuable resource and establish policies, procedures, and practices conducive to their retention. Education may be an effective tool to accommodate the challenges of the aging construction workforce. Older workers need to understand what types of changes to expect in their bodies. The older worker needs to be aware of the types of ergonomic hazards that are potentially more threatening to their health and safety on the job and at home, and learn new ways to avoid them or work around them. Education for the aging worker that helps them understand their physiological changes could be a proactive approach to avoiding injuries. If the worker knows what to expect in the way of approaching physiological changes a few years further into their career, they may begin to think about the task they are performing today and look for new ways to complete the task in the future that minimizes exposure to ergonomic hazards. Educating the workforce may begin to produce new ways to reduce the hazards they are exposed to now through cooperative efforts between management, engineering, and first-line supervision. The informed older worker can begin to look for new tools, interventions, processes, and approaches to completing the necessary tasks of the construction project. Additionally, training strategies for the aging workforce will need to adapt to the cognitive capabilities of individual workers. Learning and retention abilities will vary between computer-based training and hands-on training; therefore, a test could be utilized in order to rate or grade an individualrsquo;s abilities after training. Incident investigation plays an important role with identifying an underlying root cause of the incident. More in-depth information should be collected pertaining to the physical activity taking place, such as lifting a piece of plywood, pounding in a ground pin, stripping of decking, or hanging a drywall on a ceiling. Each trade utilizes different skills and completes different tasks within the organization. A breakdown or list of activities to add to an investigation report should identify any trend that exists with certain activities and ages of the worker. With this added information, management should be able to collect and maintain a more accurate outline of injury analysis as it relates to the aging workforce.

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