Guidelines to prevent falls among older workers in the manufacturing industry

Abstract

Although occupational injuries in the manufacturing industry have decreased overall, the occurrence of fall-related injuries has remained unchanged. This may be due to a higher number of older workers, and an increased ratio of older workers to total employees. Therefore, it is necessary to develop workflow guidelines to prevent fallrelated accidents involving older employees. Based on the results of our literature review, we developed some key questions (KQ) for older factory workers. Furthermore, we described a draft guideline for each KQ. In our proposal, we combined (1) conventional strategies for mitigating environmental harm, and (2) individual exercise interventions to improve the workers’ fitness. We believe that these tentative recommendations will further aid fall-prevention initiatives. In the future, to investigate the effectiveness of our guidelines, we hope to conduct external surveys of occupational health staff within several manufacturing establishments. These will be followed by an expert panel discussion to formally complete them. Our current guidelines will be helpful for industry workers, and employers who wish to reduce injuries and liabilities in the workplace.