20 Predictions for 2020

We asked 20 safety and health leaders from various industries to give us their predictions on the trends they see most affecting occupational health in 2020 and beyond. After talking to these subject matter experts, we noticed several themes emerge.

To them, looking at safety in a vacuum is “old school” thinking. Modern safety professionals take a holistic approach to health. Blending a proactive approach with innovative tools will help those in EHS and occupational health rise to the challenges and opportunities we’ll face in this new decade.

Here are some emerging topics that will impact your job in the upcoming years to come:

Changing demographics: Many of our experts commented on the shifting demographics in the workplace, particularly among aging workers. According to USA Today, older Americans are not only the fastest growing segment of the U.S. workforce, but they are also living longer than previous generations. However, with age comes certain setbacks.

Julie Lecci, Manager of Occupational Health at Conagra, said safety managers are creatively stretched to meet the limitations of their older workers. “As a person ages, their physical ability continues to decline, while work requirements remain constant,” Lecci said.

Nevertheless, in the age of smart factories and cyber-physical systems, there is a logical approach to older workers. Kathleen Ciszewski from Danone North America believes a marriage between technology and the aging workforce is a safe and logical route for their employees.

“Adaptable, inexpensive, easy-to-use tools and systems will be needed to continue to optimize our workforce and prevent future injuries, or I’m afraid we will see a serious uptick in stress/strain and repetitive motion injuries,” Ciszewski said.

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