Emerging Issues

As the workforce and workplace change, new occupational safety and health challenges emerge, such as the increasing participation of older workers in the workforce and the changing organization of work.^{44, 45} For example, NIOSH studies in mining suggest that the percentage of injured or ill workers aged 45 years and older has been steadily increasing and that older injured workers typically have the highest median number of days lost per injury.⁴⁶ Additional efforts targeting interventions to specific populations at risk, such as older workers, will be taken in the future.⁴⁷

The nature of work also has been changing, with a continued trend toward longer hours of work, organizational restructuring and downsizing, increased use of contracted and temporary employees, and an increase in telecommuting.^{44, 48} A recent review shows a pattern of deteriorating performance on psychophysiological tests as well as increased injuries while working long hours.⁴⁹ Government, industry, labor, and universities need to continue collaborating to better understand the associations between the changing nature of work and its effects on worker safety and health and to identify efficacious interventions.^{50, 51}

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