There are pros and cons to employees who are considered an aging worker. They have the benefit of experience and chances are have eliminated time consuming and random motions to be able to work more efficiently.
The con is the aging workers’ body has also gained “experience” and thus may be more prone to injury.
The ideal is an aging (“experienced”) worker who has not become more prone to injury. Organizations have a vested interest in having “experienced” employees who have gained knowledge on how to avoid injuries.
$40,000 back and shoulder injuries compounded by lost work days, and now compounded more by prescribed opioids, sure hurt production and the bottom line. Which begs the question: is this scenario possible? There are two reasons why it is, in fact, attainable:
A. Aging workers (and sane human beings) do not want to live in pain. This fact makes most people highly motivated to receive help that could make their lives better.
B. Since 1992 a training methodology called “Bionomics™” (bio=body + nomics=manage) exists to teach people how to prevent back, shoulder, knee, and other musculoskeletal disorders and is proven to reduce sprain/strain injuries.
Now here is the diary part…I have lived an active life of using my body to work and play hard. Most of the injuries I experienced were sports related, but some were just dumb life things that happened for whatever reason during my more adventurous younger days
When I became the “aging worker”, I got kind of pissed off when my body became a hindrance versus a willing utility to an active lifestyle.
Three things had to happen:
- I had to gain much more control over whether or not I experienced discomfort, pain, and injury.
- I had to maintain physical activity to, in other words, keep being the “boss” over my body versus it dictating what I can and can’t do.
And this is a critical attitude adjustment: as I got into my 40’s I became aware of a cultural but mostly unspoken “think” that nearly everyone insidiously agrees to believe getting old is bad.
This shared way of thinking of “I am getting old” provides an excuse for slowing down; to stop dreaming; to gain weight; to expect more pain; to be less active; to expect less of oneself; and it magnifies over the following decades.
This societal agreement on “aging” can be rejected and by accepting the first two things that had to happen above, one doesn’t have to experience unnecessary pain and injuries. One can easily beat the aging worker (person) syndrome.
In 1992 I started Future Industrial Technologies (FIT). I teamed up with some brilliant minds to prevent back, shoulder, and ergonomic injuries. I was 100% confident it would be a successful business because of what I learned from these people.
Regarding gaining more control of whether or not I would experience discomfort and injury: most people don’t have a clue of where to start or can even imagine this is possible. This was a “mind blowing” (yes, I am an aged worker!) realization to me—our society has never been taught the simple and true cause of most back and shoulder injuries. Yet they cause tremendous pain and cause 100 million lost work days in the US annually.
We discovered not only the cause, but a training methodology– Bionomics, that puts people (workers) more in control of ever experiencing a lifestyle stopping injury. This knowledge alone reduces the liabilities of the aging worker and makes them even more valuable.
It is our purpose and all of our Injury Prevention Specialists’ purpose across North America to help the young and “experienced” workers to stay productive and pain-free in their lives. A pain-free body enables more activity, more living, and sure does help with not having to accept that unspoken “getting old” syndrome.
Bionomics™ works—we are available to teach your employees the precise biomechanics of their jobs and living in general; and how to stretch away tightness and stress on their muscles and joints.
It is time to disagree and to do something to help your aging workers and your profitability. Life is for living, for production, and for fun. Let’s teach your employees how to prevent the ultimate buzzkill—painful injuries! It’s a win-win for all ages!
Call us (1-800-775-2225) to make this next year a profitable and life altering year for you and your employees.
Dennis Downing
Future Industrial Technologies, Inc.
dennis@backsafe.com
1-800-775-2225
Prevent Tomorrow’s Injuries Today™!
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