However, those age 55 and older have twice the risk of dying in a work-related crash than younger workers do. One possible reason is that older persons are more likely to be injured if they are in a crash, and more likely to die if they are injured.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Physical and mental changes that are a normal part of aging – such as declining eyesight, hearing, physical strength, and memory – can affect one’s ability to drive safely. However, the relationship between aging and safe driving is not so simple. Older individuals tend to practice better driving habits, such as wearing seat belts and following speed limits, and they are less likely than younger persons to be involved in a crash. But, they are at a higher risk of injury or death if involved in a crash, in part because the body becomes more vulnerable to severe injury with age.

By 2020, it is estimated that 30% of Americans and 25% of all workers will be 55 years and older, and 40 million licensed drivers will be 65 years and older.

Reference: NIOSH [2016]. Older drivers in the workplace: how employers and workers can prevent crashes.(NIOSH) Publication 2016–116.

OSHA 10hr/30hr Outreach Training : 15% OFF SALE

More/Enroll

• Know Your Rights! Under federal law, you are entitled to a safe workplace.
• Training provides details on OSHA, workplace hazards, workers’ legal rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint. Required by some states and companies in order to start employment.
• DOL Plastic Card Shipped Within 2 Weeks
• Reg. Price: 10hr: $89 - 30hr: $189
• Enter Promo Code "osha15off" at Checkout

How does aging affect driving ability?

While older drivers are more likely to practice safe driving behaviors, both employers and workers should be aware that it is normal for physical and mental abilities to gradually decline with age — putting them at greater risk of dying if they are in a motor vehicle crash.

• Eyesight often worsens with age. Older eyes need more light and more time to adjust when light changes, so it can be hard to see clearly, especially at dawn, dusk, and night. Older drivers may become more sensitive to glare from headlights, street lights, and the sun.
  • Peripheral vision — the ability to see to the side or up and down while looking ahead — often declines as people age, increasing their risk of crashes.
  • Eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration become more common with age, making it harder for older drivers to read signs and see colors.
• Age-related hearing loss can make it harder to hear horns, sirens, and noises from cars, which warn of possible danger.
• Several diseases and conditions can affect the ability to drive:
  • Diabetes can make blood sugar levels too high or low, which can lead to drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, loss of consciousness, or seizures.
  • Arthritis can make joints swollen and stiff, limiting movement of the shoulders, hands, head, and neck. This can make it hard to grasp or turn the steering wheel, apply the brake and gas pedals, fasten a seat belt, or look for hazards.
  • Sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep, can increase the risk of drowsy driving.
  • Parkinson’s disease can cause a person’s arms, hands, and legs to shake. This can affect balance and movement, diminishing a driver’s ability to safely operate motor vehicle controls.
  • Other chronic diseases and the use of prescribed, over-the-counter, and multiple medications may interfere with sleep quality, increasing risk for drowsy driving.
• Motor skills, essential for driving safely, can decline with age:
  • Strength is vital for many driving tasks such as pressing down on a brake pedal.
  • Range of motion is important for fastening a seat belt or turning to look for vehicles and objects.
  • Flexibility allows the body and joints to move more freely, making it easier to observe the road from all angles. This can help with many driving tasks, including looking to the sides and rear of the car, steering, and parking.
  • Coordination helps the upper and lower body work together in situations such as simultaneously braking and turning.
• Mental abilities, including memory, attention span, judgment, and ability to make decisions and react quickly, are required for driving. These can gradually decline with age, making older drivers feel overwhelmed by signs, signals, pedestrians, and vehicles around them.

Image Source: Shutterstock

NIOSH Fact Sheet – Older Drivers in the Workplace: How Employers and Workers Can Prevent Crashes

This fact sheet gives employers and workers information on age-related physical and mental changes that may affect older workers’ driving. It is important to accommodate these changes so older workers may continue to contribute their expertise to the workplace under the safest conditions possible.

Source: Older Drivers in the Workplace: How Employers and Workers Can Prevent Crashes [6 pps -PDF – 1.38 MB]

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week aims to promote understanding of the importance of mobility and transportation to ensuring older adults remain active in the community—shopping, working or volunteering—with the confidence that transportation will not be the barrier to strand them at home.

Safe Driver Resources & Tools

• NIOSH Motor Vehicle Safety
  www.cdc.gov/njosh/motorvehicle
  Explore work-related motor vehicle safety topics and resources.
• Medications and driving
  www.aaafoundation.org/resources/resources
  The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recom- mends resources to help you learn how medi- cations can affect driving.

Image Source: Shutterstock

If you are under age 18, there may be limits on the hours you work, the jobs you do, and the equipment you use.  Do a couple things to understand more:

• Learn about the federal and state wage and hour child labor laws that apply to you.
• Use the hashtag #MySafeSummerJob on social media to learn more about what your employer must do to protect you at work.

#MySafeSummerJob

OSHA has created a social media campaign for young workers called #MySafeSummerJob. This is a focused effort to spread awareness to youth, educators, parents, supervisors, and employers about the importance of workplace safety. For more information about the #MySafeSummer campaign, visit mysafesummerjob.org. Also, be sure to follow on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as check the blog for updates about keeping young workers safe!

OSHA 10hr/30hr Outreach Training : 15% OFF SALE

More/Enroll

• Know Your Rights! Under federal law, you are entitled to a safe workplace.
• Training provides details on OSHA, workplace hazards, workers’ legal rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint. Required by some states and companies in order to start employment.
• DOL Plastic Card Shipped Within 2 Weeks
• Reg. Price: 10hr: $89 - 30hr: $189
• Enter Promo Code "osha15off" at Checkout

You Have Rights at Work

OSHA’s Safe Work for Young Workers website states:

You have the right to:

• Work in a safe place.
• Receive safety and health training in a language that you understand.
• Ask questions if you don’t understand instructions or if something seems unsafe.
• Use and be trained on required safety gear, such as hard hats, goggles and ear plugs.
• Exercise your workplace safety rights without retaliation or discrimination.
• File a confidential complaint with OSHA if you believe there is a serious hazard or that your employer is not following OSHA standards.

Video: OSHA – Young Worker’s Rights

Young Worker Hazards

Young workers get injured or sick on the job for many reasons, including:

• Unsafe equipment
• Inadequate safety training
• Inadequate supervision
• Dangerous work that is illegal or inappropriate for youth under 18
• Pressure to work faster
• Stressful conditions

Workplace hazards associated with specific jobs are another major cause of injuries and illnesses. Employers must work to reduce or minimize hazards in the workplace and train employees how to work safely on the job.

Workplace hazards include:

A. Retail/Grocery Stores/Convenience Stores

• Equipment and machinery
• Heavy lifting
• Violent crime
• Repetitive hand motion
• Slippery floors

B. Food Service/Fast Food

• Sharp objects
• Hot cooking equipment
• Slippery floors
• Electricity
• Heavy lifting
• Violent crime

C. Janitorial/Cleanup/ Maintenance

• Hazardous chemicals
• Slippery floors
• Heavy lifting
• Blood on discarded needles
• Electricity
• Vehicles

D. Office/Clerical

• Repetitive hand motion (computer work)
• Back and neck strain
• Stress

E. Outdoor Work

• Exposure to the sun
• Heat
• Landscaping
• Pesticides and chemicals
• Machinery and vehicles
• Electricity
• Heavy lifting
• Noise

F. Construction

• Falls
• Machines and tools
• Hazardous materials
• Confined space
• Electricity
• Struck-by
• Vehicle back-over
• Noise

G. General Industry

• Moving equipment
• Hot equipment
• Hazardous chemicals
• Electricity
• Heat
• Noise

H. Agriculture

• Machinery
• Struck-by
• Falls
• Electricity
• Confined space
• Hazardous chemicals
• Organic dust (e.g., grain)
• Heat

OSHA Is Here to Help

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the agency of the Department of Labor (DOL) that protects workers from dangers on the job that can cause injuries or illnesses. OSHA is here to help you.

Call OSHA on the toll-free number: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or TTY 1-877-889-5627 to get answers to your questions, or to ask OSHA to inspect your workplace if you think there is a serious hazard.

You can also submit a question online. To file a confidential complaint about workplace hazards, visit the How to File a Complaint page for instructions.

OSHA Young Worker Resources

National Safety Month is a reminder how to help prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths at work, on the roads, and in our homes and communities. According to National Safety Council (NSC), accidental injury has become the No. 3 cause of death for the first time in U.S. history. Injury statistics examined by NSC data experts confirm that preventable deaths rose 10% in 2016.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Furthermore, the cost of unintentional injuries to Americans and their employers exceeds $730 billion nationally, or $6,200 per household, and causes great suffering for individuals and their families

This year, the National Safety Council theme Keep Each Other Safe highlights the important roles we all have, not only in our own safety but the safety of our colleagues, friends and family.

OSHA 10hr/30hr Outreach Training : 15% OFF SALE

More/Enroll

• Know Your Rights! Under federal law, you are entitled to a safe workplace.
• Training provides details on OSHA, workplace hazards, workers’ legal rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint. Required by some states and companies in order to start employment.
• DOL Plastic Card Shipped Within 2 Weeks
• Reg. Price: 10hr: $89 - 30hr: $189
• Enter Promo Code "osha15off" at Checkout

National Safety Month: What Can You Do to Protect Your Employees?

National Safety Month is a reminder to put some extra thought into how you protect your employees and educate them on proper workplace safety practices.

Even if your not a manager or supervisor, take some time to think about how to make safety improvements in your own job. To get started, consider looking at OSHA’s 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards and see where you can make safety improvements.

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace.

1. 1926.501 – Fall Protection
2. 1910.1200 – Hazard Communication
3. 1926.451 – Scaffolding
4. 1910.134 – Respiratory Protection
5. 1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout
6. 1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks
7. 1926.1053 – Ladders
8. 1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods
9. 1910.212 – Machine Guarding
10. 1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements

NIOSH and the National Safety Council (NSC)

The National Safety Council provides downloadable resources highlighting a different safety topic for each week in June.  Download the materials highlighting each of the four safety topics and share them widely to help others be aware of risks and to stay safe – for a lifetime.

Stand Up to Falls

NIOSH: Falls in the workplace are a persistent, but preventable problem. Recent data analysis from three surveillance systems showed that in 2011, work-related ladder fall injuries in the United States resulted in 113 fatalities, an estimated 15,460 nonfatal injuries that involved days away from work, and an estimated 34,000 nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments.

Download NIOSH’s award-winning Ladder Safety app today to learn how to prevent extension and step ladder falls. You can also watch the joint ISSA and Total Worker Health webinar on “Preventing Slips, Trips, & Falls at Work and Beyond”.

NSC: Falls from height are the second leading cause of death in the workplace and, according to the CDC, an older adult dies from a fall every 20 minutes. To eliminate fall hazards no matter what setting you are in, keep walkways clear of clutter, wear proper footwear and refrain from distracted walking. NSC offers more tips on home ladder safety and older adult fall protection.

Falls often can lead to first aid emergencies. Since the first week of June is also CPR and AED Awareness Week, the Council is offering our NSC First Aid & CPR Online course for free between June 1 and June 11. Availability is limited.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Recharge to Be in Charge

NIOSH: Research shows that sleep duration and sleep quality has a direct effect on worker health and safety, as noted in the NIOSH March blog on short sleep duration. Shift work and other work factors may affect a worker’s ability to get enough sleep and have it be good quality sleep as well.

Getting enough sleep is important to do your job safely, and there are some jobs where it plays an even more important role in ensuring safety and health.

NSC: An estimated 37% of the U.S. workforce is sleep deprived. Those most at risk work the night shift, long shifts, rotating shifts or irregular shifts. Working against your body clock can lead to fatigue and other health problems, like depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Fatigue also can put you at great risk behind the wheel. With crashes a leading cause of workplace death, we need to be at our best to stay focused. Getting proper sleep is vital to overall worker wellbeing, as well as staying safe at home and on the roads.

Prepare for Active Shooters

NIOSH: Workplace violence can range from verbal abuse to physical assaults, including those using a weapon, directed towards an individual at work or on duty and it can have a lasting impact on workers and their families. NIOSH funds, conducts, and publishes research focused on risk factors and prevention strategies for workplace violence. Learn more about how to prevent workplace violence, and view our Online Workplace Violence Prevention Course for Nurses on the website.

NSC: Workplace violence is something every organization needs to address. Preparing for the worst can be difficult. Nobody wants to think about being involved in a situation with an active shooter, but being prepared can be your best defense. Just as your organization holds regular fire drills, taking time to conduct active shooter drills can help employers protect their workers. It’s also important to know the warning signs of workplace violence to help prevent tragedy from striking. Behaviors to watch out for, according to the agency, include:

• Crying or having temper tantrums
• Being late or absent excessively
• Showing disrespect for authority figures
• Refusing to acknowledge job performance problems
• Swearing at work or using emotionally charged language
• Being socially isolated
• Handling criticism poorly, blaming others for mistakes, and insisting he or she is correct all the time
• Holding grudges – especially against a supervisor

Don’t Just Sit There

NIOSH: U.S. workplaces are increasingly becoming more sedentary, where workers may spend much of their day sitting. This can lead to negative health effects, but there are steps you can take to reduce your risks. The NIOSH Total Worker Health program has more information and potential solutions in their new publication, Using Total Worker Health® Concepts to Reduce the Health Risks from Sedentary Work and their webinar “Sedentary Work: Implications and Interventions for Worker Safety and Health” — Archived presentation

NSC: Whether you sit in an office or work on a manufacturing line, working ergonomically is important to preventing injury. This means fitting the job to the worker, rather than the other way around, and practicing good habits.

About 80% of Americans will experience a back problem at some point in their lives, according to the American Chiropractic Association. Practicing safe lifting can help keep our bodies in good working condition.  If you want to know more about what risks you might be facing, use our free Safety Checkup Tool to get a quick personal safety snapshot based on your age, gender and occupation.