There is no doubt that miners? health is by far the greatest wealth. Over 200 workers at Xstrata Coal?s Bulga Underground Operations recently participated in a 16 week health challenge, with the program proving to have made inroads, cutting absenteeism and injuries.
With an increased focus on miners? health, this excellent case study proved both popular and successful; demonstrating the importance of collaboration between the mining industry and community/academic bodies.
We had the opportunity to interview two key speakers who will be presenting at the upcoming Miners? Health and Wellbeing Conference: Kristy Landry,?Fitness for Work Program Coordinator, Xstrata Coal and Dr Martin Mackey, Senior Lecturer Physiotherapy, The University of Sydney to gain a little bit more insight about what the program involved.
What were the main reasons that drove Xstrata Coal to embark on this 16-week project?
Kristy: In an industry such as mining, where many job roles are physically and mentally demanding, we were keen to explore what type of workplace interventions actually improve health and wellbeing, and ultimately the productive capacity of our employees.
Finding answers to these questions prompted Bulga Underground Operations to run a 16 week ?biggest improver health program? and participate in a unique study to measure the extent to which employees? ongoing capacity to perform their daily work is affected by health and wellbeing programs in the workplace.
What does the 16 week health and wellbeing program entail?
Kristy: The ?Biggest Improver? program was a holistic health and wellbeing challenge for employees aiming to address some of their lifestyle health risk factors; these included obesity, low levels of fitness, high blood pressure, cholesterol and poor diet.
The challenge was structured to enable individuals to pursue health and wellbeing goals that were most relevant to them, including physical and mental health. This was the first time for a program of this type at our operation and it proved both popular and successful.
The collaboration between Xstrata Coal and The University of Sydney is a fantastic idea. What is the role of the University with this particular project?
Martin: The University of Sydney was funded by the NSW Office for Ageing to undertake a research project (with collaborators Monash and Swinburne Universities) to assess the extent of work ability and change amongst employees of six NSW organisations, representative of different industry sectors (including mining) which were characterized by an ageing workforce. The specific objectives of the research were to:
- Obtain baseline work ability data using the Work Ability Survey (WAS), a self-completion questionnaire.
- Determine how employment and demographic characteristics interact with worker age to predict work ability.
- Identify key employment and demographic characteristics associated with low work ability.
- Examine the impact of a health-based intervention program on work ability.
- Make recommendations for organisational policy and subsequent workplace work ability interventions.
In April 2012 our research group received agreement from Bulga Underground Operations (Xstrata Coal) to take part in the study. The aim of the study at Bulga was to measure work ability in both underground crews and surface staff and to determine the impact of the ?Trewhealth? worker wellness program on work ability. Kristy Landry, an occupational therapist and Fitness for Work Coordinator at the underground mine was integral to facilitating implementation of the both the study and the 16-week ?Trewchampion? program. In total, 228 of 325 workers at Bulga Underground Operations took part in this study.
At the end of the 16-week intervention period, the respondents were asked to fill out the WAS survey for a second time. At the conclusion of the study we analysed the data and reported on the key factors influencing work ability. The report also examined the effects of the Trewhealth program on the work ability by comparing WAS scores at the start of the program with scores after it was completed.
In your opinion, what are some of the crucial challenges facing the mining industry with regards to an ageing workforce?
Kristy: The workability study highlighted areas where we could make improvements. For example, the results suggested that 16 weeks might not be long enough for these types of interventions.
Diminishing margins within the coal industry at present are driving cost containment and it can be a challenge to justify the implementation of health programs and to fund these into the future, despite the obvious benefits.
Work rostering and long commutes to and from work can also present difficulties for employees scheduling health activities and exercise outside of working hours.
Martin: The ageing of the Australian workforce, including within the mining industry, raises important questions concerning the maintenance of a good person-organisation fit over a working-life. An ageing workforce has several implications for workplace health and safety. First, it is known that physical capacity (comprising aerobic fitness, muscle strength and joint flexibility) declines with age, and after 50 years the decline is more marked. Loss in age related physical capacity is an important concern for workers involved in heavy jobs, including those evident in underground coal mining operations. If a worker?s physical capacity cannot meet the task demands, it can result in excessive fatigue, leading to a poor quality of work along with an increased risk of industrial accidents. This situation, together with the increased potential for chronic disease, decreases the safety margin which protects the worker against injury and work-related disease.
However, it is also important to note that older workers are an incredibly important human resource for organizations as they possess a wealth of acquired experience and knowledge that enable them to problem solve when confronted with difficult or novel task demands, and as such can act as mentors for younger less experienced workers.
A second major health and economic implication of an ageing workforce is that older workers experience a higher rate and cost of some work-related injuries and disease than younger workers. Work injuries are particularly prolific in the mining sector, with an increase in the number of injury claims by 11% between 2000 and 2009. Falls in particular are a leading cause of injury among older workers and in the underground mining environment the risk of falls is high. As the population ages, occupational falls must be addressed appropriately. Slip, trips and falls are significantly higher among workers over 45 years of age than younger workers. The majority of falls for workers over 55 are on the same level. In addition, work-related injuries and disease tend to be more costly in older workers. In the period 2009-10, 21% of Australian workers aged 55 years & over age required 11 or more days off work, compared with 14% to 18% for workers in younger age groups. A similar work injury pattern is also apparent in the USA in which older workers, while experiencing similar or lower rates of injuries or illness than younger workers, have increased work absences with increasing age. Taken together, these findings suggest older workers may require a greater recovery time, especially after more serious injuries, than their younger counterparts.
A third emergent feature of modern industrialized society which has significant implications for worker health and wellbeing in the mining industry is the increasing adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviours including being insufficiently physical active, increased sitting in leisure, in transport and in some cases at work, and poor diet and nutrition. Being insufficiently physically active, too much sitting and poor diet are known to (independently) increase the risk of morbidity and mortality associated with some chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome (including diabetes and obesity), some cancers (bowel and breast) and mental illness (including anxiety and depression).
If we consider how able workers are now and in the near future to do their job with respect to their work demands, their health and these three age-related factors, one way to conceptualise this is by using the work ability construct developed in Finland in the 1980s. Work ability concerns workers? ongoing capacity to perform their work and includes interactions between individual resources (e.g. health, functional capacity, skill, education); values, attitudes, motivation and job satisfaction; and working conditions (mental and physical demands, work community, and work environment). It is age-related and associated with injury, health and well-being. This construct was the focus of my research with Xstrata Coal as discussed below. To prevent problems arising from an early exit from working life due to illness or injury, effective measures are needed. Given the nature of the work ability construct, it is argued these measures should be targeted at the individual, organizational and societal levels.
Given the success of the 16-week program at Bulga, is there a chance of this being rolled out at other Xstrata operations?
Kristy: Xstrata sites will be reviewing the results of Bulga Underground?s workability study. Presentations at Xstrata group meetings have occurred with feedback on the program and suggestions for future direction.
Other Xstrata Coal sites have rolled out a variety of programs, however Bulga Underground has been fortunate that the University of Sydney has evaluated and quantified the work done at our site. We are looking to do further studies ? and interventions ? with the University of Sydney.
To hear more from these speakers, please visit the Miners? Health and Wellbeing Conference website.
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