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Older Firefighters: A Problem to Be Managed or a Resource to Be Valued?
Abstract
Firefighters used to work a 30-year career and retire in their 50s. When the life expectancy of a retired firefighter was limited by their lungs being damaged by smoke inhalation, this did not place too heavy a financial burden on the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) or the government. However, the increased longevity of the working population has created the need to extend working lives, and the impact upon firefighters has been to expect up to 40 years’ employment plus additional pension contributions.
While operational firefighters in the UK fire and rescue service traditionally retired in their 50s, their working lives are now extending. However, external pressures and the emotional and physical demands of firefighting work, lead to questions about whether operational firefighters will be able to extend their working lives. In this article, we engage with Van der Klink et al.’s sustainable employability model, which focuses on situations that allow individuals to make valuable contributions through their work and reveal how working lives can be extended. We consider implications of the characteristics of operational firefighting work, individual circumstances and contextual factors for the extension of working lives. Drawing on interviews conducted with firefighters, crew managers and watch managers working in a UK fire and rescue service, we highlight the unsustainability of many future working lives because of wellbeing and organisational pressures.
Many of the waking life of modern human beings nowadays are spent in some kind of work setting. So how happy we feel at work has a direct influence on the overall quality of life. Therefore, understanding what makes us happy or unhappy at work is very crucial. But, surprisingly; there is an absence of sound theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding such an important subject from the organizational perspective. For developing a conceptual framework for happiness at work, two components are relevant -the external work environment and the internal mental mapping .So to understand and formulate a theoretical framework for happiness at work, the phenomenon needs to be looked at from various dimensions. Such as, cognitive neuroscience, EP (Evolutionary Psychology) and an overall environmental influence in terms of work setting. Thus, in an attempt to foster happiness at a workplace, this paper reviews the causes of happiness and their consequences or effects at work from the perspective of psychological literature as well as external factors.
Generations, and generational categories, offer a means of organizing our understandings of age and age-related issues. Particularly within practitioner-orientated debates, differences between generations are highlighted as creating tensions which organizations must address. In contrast, we offer a critical interrogation of generations and unpack the implications of particular constructions. Specifically we examine the discursive construction of generational issues in United Kingdom online news about age at work, focusing on baby boomers and the lost generation. We highlight the discursive work involved in constructing each generation as entitled to work and how responsibility for employment issues is variously positioned. These interrelated concerns develop into a debate about consequences, as different versions of the future are constructed. In contrast to essentialized understandings, our study shows how generations and generational categories are constructed and organize understandings of age at work. We further highlight how the constructions of generational differences and tensions become enrolled to legitimate age-related differences with regard to work. Such insights are essential to further our understandings of age-related issues in contemporary organizing.
Increases in life expectancy over the last decades have been among the most salient reflections of changes in the quality of life in the developed world. In Germany, in 1990, the average life expectancy for men and women was, respectively, 72 and 79, while in Italy men could expect to live 74 years and women 80. By 2012, these numbers changed by about 6 years for men and 4 years for women in Germany and by 6 and 5 years in Italy. Substantial increases in life expectancy have been recorded in all EU countries, from Portugal to Estonia and from Cyprus to Norway. This growth reflects unequivocal success of medicine and health care provision and fundamental changes in the quality of life and lifestyle, and offers new opportunities for the growing groups of older populations.However, when set against very low birth rates and low levels of economic growth, the increases have also called into question the financial sustainability of social security and public health care systems, and the pote ...
A growing body of literature suggests that organizational leadership is linked to a wide variety of employee outcomes, both positive and negative, relevant to occupational health and safety. All organizations have individuals in a leadership role, but few researchers consider leadership training as an effective intervention. This may be because such studies are difficult to conduct and because the target, being the employees, is indirect. In this paper for the special edition of Work & Stress, we review studies linking leadership to individual well-being and safety in organizations. These include studies concerning leadership style, abusive supervision and organizational fairness. We highlight intervention studies that suggest that these linkages are causal and that leadership development, usually in the form of training, is an effective intervention in occupational health psychology. It is proposed that leadership development should be a main target for research on interventions in Occupational health psychology. The characteristics of leadership development interventions and directions for future research are discussed.
During the early 1960s, Norbert Elias led a research project on the adjustment of young workers to work situations and adult roles. The data from this project, which consisted of 851 interviews with young people, were recently rediscovered and the participants, now approaching retirement, were re-interviewed as part of a restudy. In this paper we argue, that, in the context of the dramatic changes to the transition to retirement that have taken place in the United Kingdom, it is possible to use Elias's unpublished work on the transition to work as a theoretical framework for understanding of the transition from work and to retirement. In particular, we focus on the themes of fantasy and reality in the perception of retirement; changing interdependencies in the transition to retirement and the extent and impact of retirement preparation on the perception of the change in status from full-time worker to retiree. We conclude by suggesting that the implied advantages of being the 'baby-boomer' generation are far from the reality, with the experiences of this group being similar to those who have gone before and face an adjustment to retirement marked by uncertainty and anxiety.
Against a global backdrop of population and workforce ageing, successive UK governments have encouraged people to work longer and delay retirement. Debates focus mainly on factors affecting individuals’ decisions on when and how to retire. We argue that a fuller understanding of retirement can be achieved by recognizing the ways in which individuals’ expectations and behaviours reflect a complicated, dynamic set of interactions between domestic environments and gender roles, often established over a long time period, and more temporally proximate factors. Using a qualitative data set, we explore how the timing, nature and meaning of retirement and retirement planning are played out in specific domestic contexts. We conclude that future research and policies surrounding retirement need to: focus on the household, not the individual; consider retirement as an often messy and disrupted process and not a discrete event; and understand that retirement may mean very different things for women and for men.
The aim of this study was to test a structural model that included job demands and job resources, negative work–home interference (WHI) and burnout (exhaustion, cognitive weariness and cynicism). A cross-sectional survey design was used. Random samples (n = 330) were taken of workers employed in the earthmoving industry in eight provinces of South Africa. Job characteristics (including job pressure, job control and job support) were measured by items that were adapted from the Job Content Questionnaire and a validated questionnaire on experience and evaluation of work. The Survey Work–Home Interaction – Nijmegen was used to measure negative WHI, while the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and cognitive weariness scale were administered to measure exhaustion, cognitive weariness and cynicism. Structural equation modelling with Amos showed that job demands (e.g. job pressure) and job resources (job control, supervisor support and colleague support) contributed to negative WHI. Negative WHI mediated the relationship between job demands and burnout and partially mediated between job resources and burnout.
This study explores the factors that affect an individual's happiness while transitioning into retirement. Recent studies find that workers often view the idea of gradual retirement as a more attractive alternative than a "cold turkey" or abrupt retirement. However, there is very little evidence as to whether phasing or cold turkey makes for a happier retirement. Using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, this study explores what shapes the change in happiness between the last wave of full employment and the first wave of full retirement. Results suggest that what matters is not the type of transition (gradual retirement or cold turkey), but whether people perceive the transition as chosen or forced.
In the UK, increasing numbers of paid employees are over 60 years with further increases expected as the state pension age rises. Some concern surrounds possible increased work-related illness and accidents for people working beyond the age of 60.
To identify the available evidence for health and safety risks of workers over age 60 years with respect to factors associated with injuries and accidents.
Databases searched included PUBMED, OSHUpdate, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSHTIC-2), SafetyLit, the UK The Health and Safety Executive (HSELINE) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety until December 2009. Inclusion criteria were workers aged over 60 years. Findings were grouped into occupational accidents and injuries and individual and workplace factors that may have influenced risk of injury to the over-60s.
Very little direct evidence was found concerning safety practices and health risks of workers over age 60. Some safety risks were associated with specific physical declines such as age-related hearing loss. Overall, these workers had fewer accidents and injuries but these were more likely to be serious or fatal when they occurred. There was no strong evidence that work patterns, including shift work or overtime, affected safety. Protective, compensatory strategies or experience may maintain safe working practices.
Implications for health and safety risks cannot be assessed without longitudinal research on workforces with substantial numbers of workers over age 60 in order to address the healthy worker effect.
The workforces of many countries are aging, creating pressure for older workers to retire later despite greater vulnerability to various occupational safety and health (OSH) risks. Some specific risks to older workers arise from age-related physical or psychological changes, while others reflect exposures to poor work organization or employment conditions. This article reviews evidence on the nature of the OSH risks faced by older workers, focusing on work ability, contingent work, and working hours. Work ability, the capacity to meet the physical, mental, and social demands of a job, has been linked to positive health outcomes for older workers. However, work characteristics seem to be more critical than workers' individual capacities. Contingent work is generally associated with poorer OSH outcomes, and older workers are more likely to be contingent, with special implications for their safety and health. There has been limited research on age and working hours, but risks for many physical and mental health problems are known to increase with shift work experience, and physiological and psychosocial changes associated with age may also increase injury risks. The authors discuss organizational practices and regulatory policies to protect and enhance the OSH of older workers.
Shiftwork is now a major feature of working life across a broad range of industries. The features of the shift systems operated can impact on the wellbeing, performance, and sleep of shiftworkers. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on one major characteristic of shift rotas-namely, shift duration. Evidence comparing the relative effects of eight hour and 12 hour shifts on fatigue and job performance, safety, sleep, and physical and psychological health are considered. At the organisational level, factors such as the mode of system implementation, attitudes towards shift rotas, sickness absence and turnover, overtime, and moonlighting are discussed.
Manual and electronic searches of the shiftwork research literature were conducted to obtain information on comparisons between eight hour and 12 hour shifts.
The research findings are largely equivocal. The bulk of the evidence suggests few differences between eight and 12 hour shifts in the way they affect people. There may even be advantages to 12 hour shifts in terms of lower stress levels, better physical and psychological wellbeing, improved durations and quality of off duty sleep as well as improvements in family relations. On the negative side, the main concerns are fatigue and safety. It is noted that a 12 hour shift does not equate with being active for only 12 hours.
There can be considerable extension of the person's time awake either side of the shift. However, the effects of longer term exposure to extended work days have been relatively uncharted in any systematic way. Longitudinal comparative research into the chronic impact of the compressed working week is needed.
Introduction E.Parry & S.Tyson PART I: THE IMPORTANCE OF AGE DIVERSITY The Business Case for an Age-diverse Workforce D.Buttigieg Age Discrimination and the Law: Forging the Way Ahead J.Herring PART II: THE NATURE OF AGE AND AGE DIVERSITY Situating Age (in) Equality Within the Paradigm and Practices of Diversity Management K.Riach The Relationship between Gender and Age W.Loretto & S.Vickerstaff The Prism of Age: Managing Age in the 21st Century Workplace M.Pitt-Catsoupes, C.Matz-Costa & M.Brown The Impact of Generational Diversity on People Management E.Parry & P.Urwin PART III: THE EMPLOYEE'S PERSPECTIVE Ageism and Age Discrimination: The Experience and Perceptions of Older Employees F.Carmichael, C.Hulme, L.Porcellato, B.Ingham & A.Prashar The Role of Age in Career Progression: Motivation and Barriers to Fulfilment in Older Employees D.Bown Wilson Younger Academics Expectations about Work and Future Employers W.Mayrhofer, O.Nordhang & C.Obeso PART IV: THE EMPLOYER'S PERSPECTIVE ON MANAGING AN AGE-DIVERSE WORKFORCE Extending Working Life: The Retention of Older Workers V.Beck The Importance of 'teaching old dogs new tricks': Training and Learning Opportunities for Older Workers A.Felstead Health and Well-being in Older Workers: Capacity Change with Age S.Harper PART V: MANAGING AN AGE-DIVERSE WORKFORCE ACROSS NATIONAL CONTEXTS The Impact of National Context on Managing Age Diversity: The Case of the UK and Germany M.Muller-Camen, M.Flynn & H.Schroder Working Longer in National Contexts: Comparing Japan and the United States M.Higo & J.Lee
Three studies were carried out to develop and validate an instrument for measuring managers’ attitudes toward older workers. In the first study we explore (a) managers’ attitudes
toward older workers, and (b) retirees’ perceptions about their last experiences before retirement. In the second study, 51 items emerging from the first study and from the literature were developed. The corresponding questionnaire was then applied to a sample of 224 Portuguese managers who were also invited to make decisions in three scenarios involving younger and older workers. The third study replicated the second one with a sample of 249 Brazilian managers. The main findings are: (a) five types of managers’ attitudes toward older workers were identified (adaptability, value of older workers’ competencies, organizational conscientiousness, social capital/generosity and performance); (b) these attitudes predict how managers select older vs. younger workers in hiring and selecting employees to participate in training; (c) the empirical patterns identified in the Portuguese and Brazilian samples are similar; (d) in spite of recognizing positive qualities in older workers, managers discriminate against them; (e) managers develop different attitudinal profiles toward older workers, which has consequences for how they make decisions about those workers.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe different concepts of valuable knowledge that are perceived to be lost when an older expert departs from a knowledge-intensive organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
– A multiple case research methodology and semi-structured interviews involving 17 participants from five small-to-medium enterprises (SME).
Findings
– Five concepts of valuable knowledge have emerged from the interviews: subject matter expertise; knowledge about business relationships and social networks; organisational knowledge and institutional memory; knowledge of business systems, processes and value chains; and knowledge of governance.
Research limitations/implications
– The scope of the research project is restricted to SMEs in New Zealand and this restriction limits the generalisation of the results to other contexts. This study may serve as a starting point for future investigations including larger organisations that may have a greater number of older experts.
Practical implications
– By identifying the different types of older experts' knowledge, organisations are able to realise the potential of retaining that knowledge within the organisation.
Originality/value
– This is one of the first investigations of the knowledge that older experts in the professional services industry possess within a small-to-medium enterprise context.
This study examined individuals' beliefs about older workers. Of particular interest was the relationship between those beliefs and individuals' (a) interactions with older workers, (b) supervisory status, and (c) demographic variables. Findings indicated that although older workers hold more positive beliefs about older workers than younger workers hold, even younger workers tended to have generally positive beliefs. Chronological age was found to moderate two relationships. First, the number of younger workers' interactions with older workers significantly, positively affected younger workers' beliefs about older workers. Second, an examination of the interaction between supervisory status and age found that older supervisors hold more negative beliefs about older workers than younger supervisors.
Working in the fire service: A survey of current and ex-firefighters in England
- Communities Department
- Local Government
Fire and rescue operational statistics bulletin for England
- Communities Department
- Local Government
Dimensions of Human behaviour: The changing life course
- E D Hutchison
- ED Hutchison
Age related changes and safety critical work: Identification of tools and a review of the literature
- H Beers
- H Butler
The Cornell retirement and well-being study
- P Moen
- W A Erickson
- M Agarwal
- V Fields
- L Todd
Notions of fantasy and reality in the adjustment to retirement
- J Goodwin
- H Connor