A decision support system for designing win–win interventions impacting occupational safety and operational performance in ageing workforce contexts

Abstract

Many companies are facing issues related to the increasing average age of their workforce, which impacts both operational and occupational safety and health (OSH) performance. In recent years, the ageing workforce (AW) has been investigated from various perspectives by researchers, showing how companies can use different approaches to address this phenomenon, either in their OSH interventions or operational strategies. However, no studies have investigated the interrelations between these approaches. In this study, we first conducted an extensive literature review that enabled the identification of (i) the aspects of operational and OSH performance affected by the AW, (ii) the suitable types of interventions in an AW context, and (iii) the interrelations between the three. Based on this, we then present a conceptual decision support system (DSS) to assist decision makers in analysing operational and OSH performance at their workplace and defining the proper interventions for an AW context. Specifically, by considering the interrelations between the interventions and both operational and OSH performance, the conceptual DSS facilitates a win–win approach, where both operational and OSH performances are improved simultaneously by choosing the proper intervention(s). An illustrative application case is then developed to show the application of the DSS before drawing conclusions about its major strengths and limitations, and further research avenues.