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We all know鈥攑erhaps too well鈥攖hat biology matters. As we age, our vision and balance deteriorate. We have 鈥渟enior moments.鈥� You鈥檇 think that the changes that most of us experience as we age would have a negative impact on our productivity. To the contrary,听聽showed that聽workers between the ages of 60 and 74 are, in fact, more productive, on average, than their younger counterparts.

How can this be? Furthermore, if age-related physiological changes don鈥檛 necessarily lower overall productivity, should employers adapt to changing workforce demographics by designing 鈥渁ge-friendly鈥� workplaces?

滨苍听, a major automaker conducted a unique experiment. Their results suggest that adapting workplaces to complement mature workers鈥� physical abilities can have real bottom-line benefits.

Recognizing the speed at which BMW鈥檚 workforce was aging, managers and engineers at a plant in Germany staffed one of the production lines so that the average age of the workers on that line equaled the BMW workforce鈥檚 projected average age in 2017. Modifications in the production process鈥攕uggested by the workers themselves and costing less than $50,000 to implement鈥攔esulted in a boost in productivity. The solutions were simple design changes, such as better lighting, adjustable magnifying glasses, computer displays with adjustable font sizes and forgiving flooring material. These, in turn, optimized the true potential of the autoworkers鈥� skills and experience. BMW鈥檚 design solutions could be considered 鈥渦niversal design鈥� solutions, because they met the needs of a wide range of physical abilities. Better lighting is likely to improve productivity for older and younger workers alike.

The BMW experiment is consistent with聽聽indicating that older workers鈥櫬�skills and experience can be more than enough to compensate for many age-related physiological changes.

What about other costs related to employee health and physical abilities?

From as far back as聽, relatively聽聽appear in the data on occupational injuries鈥攖he primary driver of an employer鈥檚 workers-compensation insurance costs.

Frequency of injuries: On the whole, the frequency of occupational injuries neither increases nor decreases over employees鈥� working lives. Some types of work-related injuries, though, including slips, trips and falls, tend to occur more frequently with increasing age鈥攕uggesting opportunities for saving on workers鈥� compensation premiums through targeted prevention programs.

Severity of injuries: When an older worker is injured, the injury tends to be more severe than when a younger worker is injured. The incidence of聽聽and the amount of聽, too. The increasing severity of injuries is likely due to declines in the overall health of older employees, who tend to have more chronic disease.

Work-site health promotion programs and evidence-based screening tests will be increasingly important tools聽for employers to offer as the workforce ages. In addition to benefitting an aging workforce, these programs can support a generation of younger workers who are聽.

The big question for many U.S. employers is whether 鈥攍ike BMW鈥攖hey are willing to address these challenges head on. Designing workplaces that are 鈥溾�� may require some difficult conversations. There are laws, after all, that protect workers from age discrimination, so聽conversations about aging at work can be particularly sensitive.

Promising case studies, such as a pilot research project underway at Children鈥檚 Hospital Colorado, may provide useful lessons. Children鈥檚 Hospital, a leading pediatric health-care system, has joined with researchers at the University of Colorado to study what health-care organizations can do to optimize the skills and experience of aging health-care workers, much the way BMW optimized its older autoworkers鈥� skills and experience. The team thinks that by聽adhering to the principles of聽, by talking candidly with employees and managers in the hospital, and by reducing slip, trip, and fall hazards, Children鈥檚 Hospital can improve on its already stellar record as an employer.

When asked why Children鈥檚 Hospital is working on the project, the hospital鈥檚 occupational health manager, Roberta Smith, said, 鈥淲hen you think about it,听the things that are safer for older workers are good for younger workers, too. It鈥檚 a no-brainer. Preparing for an older workforce is also going to help our younger employees age well.鈥�