Maintaining work ability in outdoor workers - A long-term evaluation

In this three-year study we examined the effect on work ability in a cohort of workers before and after the implementation of a workplace intervention based on the APHIRM (A Participative Hazard Identification and Risk Management) toolkit. Primary analysis was conducted to detect changes in mean work ability scores between baseline and three-year follow-up for all workers who completed the surveys (matched and unmatched), and all workers who were ≥50 years of age (matched and unmatched). There were no significant differences between the two time periods. A secondary analysis was undertaken to examine associations between risk factors and work ability scores. This identified that six of the 18 psychosocial risk factors, and three of the eight physical risk factors associated with reduced work ability at baseline were no longer significant. These results indicate that the APHIRM toolkit may be effective in identifying hazards which, if addressed, could contribute to the maintenance of work ability over time.