Age-related accident risks: longitudinal study of Swedish iron ore miners

The study investigated whether occupational accident risks were equally distributed across age categories over time in the context of production reorganization and work rationalization in a Swedish iron ore mine between 1980 and 1993. Three phases of reorganization, defined by productivity levels, and four age categories were related to age-related accident risk ratios using the Poisson-regression method. Accident risk ratios (ARRs) were found systematically to be higher during the two first phases and also for younger workers, in the cases of both nonspecific and specific accident risks. The steady reduction in accident rates observed did not favor all age groups of workers to the same extent. For two accident patterns out of five, workers in their thirties and forties recorded higher ARRs than those in their fifties.