Working Safer or Just Working Longer? The Impact of an Aging Workforce on Occupational Injury and Illness Costs

There has been concern about the impact of an aging workforce on occupational safety and health (National Academy of Sciences, 2004; Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, 2009). This interest is partially driven by the impact of the cohort of baby-boomers and in part by concerns that injuries to older workers might increase disability costs for workers and workers’ compensation costs for employers. This study for the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) examines how older workers’ injury frequency and costs differ from younger workers’ and how this will affect the workers’ compensation system. We first examine the common contention that injury risk declines with age as workers become more experienced. We find that after controlling for the types of jobs and the hours worked, injury risk through the age of 64 only declines for men, while the risk for women stays constant or increases gradually with age.

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