As the modern work force ages and becomes more overweight, employers find themselves facing new safety, productivity and cost implications. Atlas Ergonomics founder and Chief Executive Officer Drew Bossen will present the latest findings on the relationship between aging, obesity and injuries, along with an intervention case study, at the National Safety Council’s 2011 Annual Congress & Expo in Philadelphia.
Bossen’s 90-minute presentation, titled “Wellness: The Intersect of a Productive Worker,” will begin at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31. The presentation will help attendees understand the effects of aging on workers’ ability to do their jobs; understand the relationship between obesity, illness, injuries and worker’s compensation costs; study the effects of an employer intervention program; and learn how to track the success and failure of such programs.
The lessons will be offered conjunction with the case study, which covers Atlas’ work with a work force of 807 commercial truck drivers over a 20-month period, during which Atlas quantified the scope, risks and costs of the workers’ age- and obesity-related problems and implemented an effective intervention program.
“Our nation is fast approaching the day when 70 percent of the work force will be considered overweight or obese,” Bossen says. “Within the transportation industry, with its sedentary tasks, erratic sleep, poor diet and lack of social support, the problem is growing faster and affecting workers even more drastically. Our experience with truck drivers can provide helpful information to employers in all industries about how to address and alleviate inevitable obesity and age-related risks in a proactive way.”
