Abstract
BackgroundHealth management tools need to be developed to foster healthy ageing at work and sustain employability of ageing work-forces. The objectives of this study were to 1) perform a needs assessment to identify the needs of offshore workers in the Dutch Continental Shelf with regard to healthy ageing at work and 2) to define suitable program objectives for a future healthy ageing at work program in the offshore working population.MethodsA mixed methods design was used applying an intervention mapping procedure. Qualitative data were gathered in N = 19 semi-structured interviews and six focus-group sessions (N = 49). Qualitative data were used to develop a questionnaire, which was administered among N = 450 offshore workers. Subgroup analyses were performed to investigate age-related differences relating to health status and work-related factors.ResultsThe importance of good working environments, food, as well as sleep/fatigue management was identified by the qualitative data analysis. A total of 260 offshore workers completed the questionnaire. Significant differences in work ability were found between offshore workers aged <45 and 45–54 years (mean 8.63 vs. 8.19; p = 0.005) and offshore workers aged <45 and >55 years (mean 8.63 vs. 8.22; p = 0.028). Offshore workers had a high BMI (M = 27.06, SD = 3.67), with 46 % classified as overweight (BMI 25–30) and 21 % classified as obese (BMI >30). A significant difference in BMI was found between offshore workers aged <45 and ≥55 years (mean 26.3 vs. 28.6; p <0.001). In total, 73 % of offshore workers reported prolonged fatigue. A significant difference in fatigue scores was found between offshore workers aged <45 and ≥55 years (mean 36.0 vs. 37.6; p = 0.024). Further, a “dip” was reported by 41 % of offshore workers. Dips were mainly experienced at day 10 or 11 (60 %), with 45 % experiencing the dip both as physical and mental fatigue, whereas 39 % experienced the dip as only mental fatigue.ConclusionsBoth qualitative and quantitative analyses identified work, food and sleep/fatigue management as most important program objectives for a healthy ageing at work and sustainable employability program offshore. Future studies should investigate possible causes of dip occurrences and high fatigue scores to identify suitable interventions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2807-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Health management tools need to be developed to foster healthy ageing at work and sustain employability of ageing work-forces
By approaching healthy ageing at work (HA@W) from a life course perspective, this study investigates health dynamics among age groups to promote age-specific intervention program objectives
Offshore workers noted that people working offshore have to adjust to offshore job prerequisites and have to possess certain social skills
Summary
Health management tools need to be developed to foster healthy ageing at work and sustain employability of ageing work-forces. In view of the expected shortages in workforce, societies and companies have to develop health management policies and practices to foster healthy ageing at work (HA@W) and to sustain employability. Sustaining employability is especially challenging for workers in offshore oil and gas production because of strenuous work conditions (Table 1). The physical properties of the platforms (e.g. noise and motion levels) and the social factors of the job (e.g., being away from home) add to the uniqueness of the offshore work environment. A possible reason is that most offshore workers execute highly demanding physical work, which poses additional risks on workers’ safety and health making them more prone to retire early
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