The Ruba-Duk Blog



Anti-Fatigue, the Aging Workforce and my "Free Bus Pass"

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So apparently as we`ve been told over the last few years we all now have to work longer. Looking at the calculator on the "directgov" website I will have to work until I am 67 and incidentally it is already able to tell me that they will deliver the pack that will also allow me to claim for my free bus pass in 2039! Who says the government are not prepared!

Whilst the government are well prepared for my "Free Bus Pass" and the finance people are getting on with things like `Auto-Enrolment` private pensions, there appears to be very little noise about how we prepare ourselves and work environments to physically work longer.

At some point we will all need to start preparing our Work Environments to be both kinder to our bodies right throughout our working life that enables us all to work what for me, may be 2 years longer than normal, but for some may be 5 or more years longer.

Well of course the levels of preparation are going to be different dependant upon the job we do, whilst it may be less of a challenge for "Pen Pushers" like me to work those additional years and with advances in technology it will probably mean that these additional years could even be done working from home.

However for those whose job and profession involves manual labour, standing, lifting or operating machinery these challenges will be much more difficult. Advances in technology and the advent of for instance 3D printing may again help, but can we really see a time when their will be no need for workers standing at assembly lines or operating machines. This is where employers need to start looking now at the likes of Anti-Fatigue Mattings to reduce the wear & stress placed on the bodies, particularly lower back and limbs from prolonged periods of standing.

Of course the most important part in preparing our bodies for those possible extra working years is starting now, there will be little point in installing preventative measures such as
Anti-Fatigue Mattings and Ergonomic Workstations, at in 10 or 20 years time when workers start to work these additional years as the damage would already have been done.