Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Aging Workers in Industry and Retail Sector – A Holistic Approach for an Age-Related Evaluation and Design of Work

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021) (IEA 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 220))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 1846 Accesses

Abstract

The demographic change leads to an on average older workforce. Aging is associated with a decrease of physical abilities and an increase in physical disorders. However, guidance for the evaluation of age-critical work tasks and workplaces is needed. Using a mixed method approach, we collected data from 37 interviews with employees and management representatives and descriptively analyzed archival data sources of two large Austrian companies. Empirical findings suggest that data on different levels should be considered in analysis to derive measures that are tailored to the specific needs of industrial application.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. UNDP: World population prospects 2019: median age by region, subregion and country, 1950–2100, United Nations, Population Division (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  2. EUOSH: Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: Back to Work Report, European Week for Safety and Health at Work, vol. 3. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Institute of Medicine: Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace: Low Back and Upper Extremities. National Academy Press, Washington (DC) (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ilmarinen, J.: Aging workers. Occup. Environ. Med. 58, 546 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kenny, G., et al.: Physical work capacity in older adults. Implications for the aging worker. Am. J. Ind. Med. 51(8), 610–625 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Eurofound and International Labour Organization: Working Conditions in a Global Perspective. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Snook, S.: Approaches to preplacement testing and selection of workers. Ergonomics 30(2), 241–247 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Seeberg, K., et al.: Effectiveness of workplace interventions in rehabilitating musculoskeletal disorders and preventing its consequences among workers with physical and sedentary employment. Syst. Rev. 8(1), 1–7 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Frerichs, F.: Alternsmanagement im Betrieb – Herausforderungen und Handlungsansätze. In: Bäcker, G., Heinze, R. (eds.) Soziale Gerontologie in gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung, pp. 185–195. Springer VS, Wiesbaden (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-01572-5_13

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Ilmarinen, J., Tempel, J., Giesert, M. (eds.): Arbeitsfähigkeit 2010: Was können wir tun, damit Sie gesund bleiben? VSA-Verlag, Hamburg (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kugler, M., Sinn-Behrendt, A., Bruder, R., Baumann, G., Hodek, L., Niehaus, M.: Empowering corporate ageing management by interconnecting existing data: a case study from the German automotive industry. In: Deml, B., Stock, P., Bruder, R., Schlick, C. M. (eds.) Advances in Ergonomic Design of Systems, Products and Processes, pp. 431–449. Springer, Heidelberg (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48661-0_28

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  12. Landau, K., et al.: Musculoskeletal disorders in assembly jobs in the automotive industry with special reference to age management aspects. Int. J. Ind. Ergon. 38(7–8), 561–576 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Boenzi, F., et al.: Modelling workforce aging in job rotation problems. IFAC-PapersOnLine 48(3), 604–609 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Egbers, J.F.: Identifikation und Adaption von Arbeitsplätzen für leistungsgewandelte MitarbeiterInnen. Dissertation, TUM (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Keil, M., Spanner-Ulmer, B.: Conception and evaluation of an age-differentiated task analysis and screening method. In: ElMaraghy, H. (ed.) Enabling Manufacturing Competitiveness and Economic Sustainability, pp. 178–183. Springer, Berlin (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23860-4_29

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Wittemann, P.: Konzeption eines Verfahrens zur Ableitung ergonomischer Gestaltungslösungen für fähigkeitsgerechte Arbeitsplätze. Dissertation, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ilmarinen, J.: The work ability index. Occup. Med. 57(2), 160 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Rademacher, H., et al.: Capability related stress analysis to support design of work systems. In: Schlick, C., Frieling, E., Wegge, J. (eds.) Age-Differentiated Work Systems. Springer, Berlin (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35057-3_10

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Varianou-Mikellidou, C., et al.: Occupational health and safety management in the context of an ageing workforce. Saf. Sci. 116, 231–244 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We’d like to acknowledge the case study companies and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency for its financial project support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Innovation and Industrial Management, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

    Matthias Wolf

  2. LIT Robopsychology Lab, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria

    Sandra Maria Siedl

Authors
  1. Matthias Wolf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sandra Maria Siedl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthias Wolf .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Département de génie mécanique, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB, Canada

    Nancy L. Black

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    W. Patrick Neumann

  3. Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ian Noy

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Wolf, M., Siedl, S.M. (2021). Aging Workers in Industry and Retail Sector – A Holistic Approach for an Age-Related Evaluation and Design of Work. In: Black, N.L., Neumann, W.P., Noy, I. (eds) Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021). IEA 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 220. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74605-6_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74604-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-74605-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation