Posted By p winter
I have been tasked with producing guidelines for managers to carry out risk assessments on workers who have reached 60 and who no longer whish to participate in the out of hours call out rota.

I am not entirely comfortable with this - many but not all of those involved no longer wish to participate but the management view is that it part of the job - which contractually it is.

It seems to me the idea behind the idea of a risk assessment is to show persons are fit and therefore must participate in after hours duty.

Any sugggestions

Pete

Posted By mark limon
What reason does a person 60 or over have to avoid duties that a person under 60 has to do.
Age is not supposed to be a factor,if contractually they have to carry out these duties then using age as an excuse not to is tatamount to admitting they are no longer fit for their jobs.
Any risk assessment must take everyone into account,young people,pregnant women,poor physical condition etc etc.My dad at 60 was fitter than most men 20 years younger so age is not always an indication of fitness.
Do your risk assessment but quote regs to your bosses to include everyone.
A risk assessment aimed at a specific age group wouldnt be "suitable and sufficient" ,
Mark

Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Hello Pete

If you read the ACOP of HSC Management of Health and Safety at Work Regs 1999, you'll see that an assessment of risks arises from foreseeable hazards, their likelihood and implications.

In relation to 'age', the relevant hazards are those where there is scientific evidence of occupational risks that differentiate according to age (youth as well as 'older' workers). An example is hazards of musculoskeletal disorders as well as slips, trips and falls which are higher for older workers in many sectors.

I wrote an article on safety issues associated with age discrimination in the October 2006 issue of Safety & Health Practitioner.

Posted By p winter
and to the other posters

Posted By Kieran J Duignan
The HSL report to which John refers is a good presentation of ergonomic evidence about age-related differences in physical and cognitive abilities.

A very serious barrier to applying research of this kind lies in the total failure of the Chartered Management Institute and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development to report this evidence in their claimed-for authoritative guidance on age discrimination, regardless of my campaign as a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD for recognition of these realities, over several years.