Age legislation could bring health issues

That’s what the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, which come into force this month, mean for employers.

But Wilmott Dixon has already found a potential snag: that health and safety matters should override age concerns. “It’s a bit of a problem really,” says Chrissie Chadney, the firm’s personnel director. “In my experience, some of the demands of site work don’t sit easily with older staff.”

Chadney says that, as a rule, Wilmott Dixon will find alternative roles for staff who can no longer carry out site-based roles if their age is having a negative impact on their ability. But it’s not always easy according to Chadney. “We had an assistant site manager, who, at the age of 60 was advised, on the basis of health and safety, that he could no longer work at height – unless accompanied by an able member of staff. But that just wasn’t practical.”

So Wilmott Dixon brought him into the office. “It was a bit of a made-up job,” confesses Chadney, who says it was done to meet the company’s moral obligations regarding age discrimination rather than fulfil a specific employment need. “It’s happened a couple of times,” she adds.

Nevertheless, Chadney says there are plenty of examples where it is possible for age to triumph over health and safety issues. “Growing old doesn’t always impact on a person’s ability to carry out their jobs effectively,” she says. “We’ve many cases where surveyors and estimators, for example, have continued working past 65 because they wanted to and were able to.

“You’ve got to consider the concerns on a case-by-case basis,” she says before concluding, “but for Wilmott Dixon health and safety issues are paramount irrespective of age”.