Age and work: a study of 489 men in heavy industry
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1953Author
Richardson, I. M.
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Abstract
The object of the research reported in this thesis
was to determine the relationship between Age and Heavy
Work. The Employment of Older People is already a
national problem of great importance; in the foreseeable
future it will become of critical importance.
The economy of Great Britain rests mainly on the
prosperity of its heavy industries which will in the
years to come rely more and more upon the labour of an
ageing population. The adaptation of industrial production to suit
an ageing labour force depends largely on knowledge
of what constitutes suitable work for older people.
As yet that knowledge is embryonic but over a long
period there has existed the belief that heavy work
is contra- indicated for men in the upper age -groups;
that belief may be the cause or the effect of a
familiar event in heavy industry - moves to less
heavy work by older men. As a former industrial
medical officer, the author was struck by the common
association between that event and health; the
finding that work modification and its attendant
circumstances had not been adequately investigated investigated led to this study. The actual observations are derived from personal
interviews with 489 men aged 50 years and over who were
employed in a coalmine and two iron foundries. The
outstanding findings are that with advancing age the
proportion of men on heavy work falls, that moves off
heavy work increase sharply in frequency after the
fourth decade of age, and that injury and illness are
associated with almost two thirds of these moves.
The role of health factors in work modification is
discussed in detail and the hypothesis is advanced
that moves off heavy work are often the result of a
combination of circumstances in which disability is
of minor importance. The relation between retirement and modification
is discussed and attention drawn to the fact that
older people frequently encounter difficulty at work
some years before normal retirement age is reached.
The conclusion is reached that some modification of
effort is required for older people but that this
should not involve sacrifice of productive skills.