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Technical Bulletin
Tips on Creating an Elder-Friendly Office Environment
[by AP Business Writer TALI ARBEL]
An ergonomics expert says American companies are going to need to make a lot of
changes as they adjust to an increasingly gray-haired work force.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Group predicted that 25
percent of American workers will be 55 or older by 2016, up from nearly 19
percent today.
An older work force is going to be a fact of corporate life, and
in order to retain important intellectual capital and avoid age-discrimination
lawsuits, companies need to figure out how to change office life to accommodate
silver-haired employees, said Lance Perry, a senior risk engineer for insurance
company Zurich Financial Services in Fort Worth, Texas.
Perry has been analyzing company ergonomics, or the science of
beneficial workplace design, for more than 26 years, and recently helped write a
report on how to best accommodate and retain aging employees.
Some basic recommendations:
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Make buttons on phones,
instructions on printers and other visual signs larger so aging eyes can
read them more easily.
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Voice-activated software
is going to be more and more in use, Perry said, as typing gets harder for
older hands.
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Forget highly-polished, slick
lobby floors in office buildings, he said. Think about changing to
carpet, or a floor with more friction. Floors should also be all one height
to try to fend off tripping over unexpected inclines or steps. (Logomats.com
also recommends installing entrance mat runners
in key places to reduce flooring hazards).
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More face-to-face meetings,
rather than communication by e-mail. Older people also often prefer
face-time instructions when dealing with newer technologies.
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Provide incentives for
wellness program participation. An older population is more in need of
nutritional guidance and physical activity to maintain fitness, he said.
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Mentoring with younger
employees is also important to pass corporate knowledge from one
generation to the next. Older employees are more likely to have been with a
company for a long time.
Also see Logomat's Technical Bulletin
titled "The Solution for Slippery Marble Floors"
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