P2 Group recently had the pleasure of hosting a seminar titled ‘Reinvest WorkCover Savings to Manage your Ageing Workforce’. The seminar presenters included Professor Juhani Ilmarinen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Louise Rolland, Ernst & Young Advisory Services and Paul Marsh, Director, Occupational Therapist and Ergonomist, P2 Group.  We have uploaded some of the seminar content to our website.

Part 1 – Juhani Ilmarinen – An Introduction to the Work Ability Concept

Part 2 – Paul Marsh – The Ageing Workforce and Workers’ Compensation

Part 3 – Louise Rolland – Work Ability in the Australian Context

Seminar Overview
Ageing workforce management and workers’ compensation are linked, due to the risk of injuries and claims rising with age. Self managing workers’ compensation can lead to bottom line savings through reduced premium costs, which can be reinvested into managing your mature workforce. This will ensure your workers’ compensation costs remain low and staff welfare remains high.  Demands to prolong working life and increase productivity are under discussion in Australian policy; hence designing for an ageing workforce is a critical workplace issue. Millions of dollars have been wasted by employers over the years as a result of not sustaining the performance of their people once they begin working, despite the impact that people have on efficiency.

Rather than considering people as assets to be preserved, often they are, in effect, treated as liabilities – frequently being replaced with business critical knowledge and skills for no reason other than length of service.

Work Ability, which is the balance between work demands and personal resources, has underpinned the framework for Finnish Institute of Occupational Health services for close to three decades. Maintaining and improving Work Ability has been used as a way of solving the problems associated with an ageing workforce.

This seminar outlined how the Work Ability Index (WAI) can be applied in Australian workplaces to promote productivity in an ageing workforce and maintain quality of working life. The WAI provides a basis for measuring the changes individuals undergo in their life course with age as well as changes in work demands.

About the Presenters
Professor Juhani Ilmarinen is well known and highly regarded both in Finland and worldwide for his research, development and pioneering in ageing and the quality of working life. Under Juhani’s leadership the Work Ability concept and method called Work Ability Index (WAI) was developed at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH). He is the chair of Ageing committee of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and Secretary of Ageing and Work Scientific Committee of The International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH).

After retirement from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) in the beginning of 2009, after 35 years of service, Professor Juhani Ilmarinen established JIC Ltd. The on-going mission of the company worldwide is to implement an evidence-based model for work ability and to promote the status of all generations with respect to the concepts of age management, work ability, and the life course.

Professor Ilmarinen has more than 500 publications on occupational health, work physiology, work ability, and ageing. He has published 8 books, e.g., a handbook on age management called Towards a Longer Work Life in 2006. In November 2008, the First National Prize for Innovative Practices in Employment and Social Policy was awarded to Professor Ilmarinen.

Louise Rolland – Ernst & Young Advisory Services, has spent the last 10 years investigating the impacts of labour market trends including, demographic change and globalising labour markets on Australian business. Before joining Ernst & Young, Louise established and led the Business Work & Ageing (BWA) Centre for Research at Swinburne University of Technology and the broader business services, public policy and advocacy work of BWA. In the position of Professor, Work & Ageing, she led national and international research projects and worked closely with a number of firms both in Australia and internationally on demographic challenges.

With a robust understanding and experience of workforce planning and talent management Louise has worked closely with government and the private sector to apply diagnostic and strategic approaches to complex workforce challenges. She has recently led workforce diagnostic projects for the Departments of Defence, BHP Billiton and the banking sector.

Paul Marsh is a Director of P2 Group, Senior Occupational Therapist and Ergonomist. He has over 10 years experience in providing injury management, injury prevention (including early intervention), ergonomic assessments and training, case management, functional capacity evaluations, workplace assessments, manual handling assessments and training and defining inherent requirements of tasks. Paul’s professional experience and interests include workplace rehabilitation with a particular emphasis on Injury Prevention and Early Intervention. He has particular expertise in resolving complex high-costing cases.

Paul has a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, is a member of the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists and Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia. Paul is currently convening the Occupational Rehabilitation Specialist Interest Group, through OT Australia (Victoria). Paul recently worked with Professor Juhani Ilmarinen during the 6th International Course in Age management in Finland.

Contact P2 Group on (03) 9818 8914 for more information.