SANTA ANA/SAN FRANCISCO – In the next four years, the number of workers 55 years or older will increase an astonishing 32 percent.  To help employers understand and respond to this trend, State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Santa Ana District Office has scheduled a free seminar - “Aging and Ergonomics…It’s not all Bad News” - that will address workplace modifications necessary to prevent injury in an aging workforce on April 26.  The seminar will also cover how employers can establish “Return-to-Work” programs for workers with injuries.

Featured speakers include State Fund ergonomics expert Helen Chandler, and State Fund Return-to-Work Consultants Pamela Joyce and Susan Black.

“Today’s workforce is aging rapidly and this seminar will help employers better understand how age-related changes affect their workplaces,” says Chandler.  “We want to help them recognize problems before injuries occur. This seminar does just that. It will help employers learn how to identify problems that will lead to or may cause development of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). Useful topics from the seminar can be used by employers to educate their mature workers.”

Topics at the seminar include:

• Aging in the Workforce
• Tips to prevent work injuries
• Retaining experienced staff and managing a mature workforce

• Return-to-Work
• Helping employees return to work after a job-related injury or illness
• Reducing re-training costs
• Reducing litigation
• Improving employee productivity

The seminar is from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon at State Fund’s Santa Ana District Office, 1750 East 4th Street, in the first floor conference room.  Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and there is a complimentary continental breakfast.  To register for the event, please call (714) 565-5992, or send a fax to (714) 565-5988. 

State Fund has the largest safety and health services program among California workers’ compensation carriers. The Santa Ana seminar is part of a series of educational programs State Compensation Insurance Fund is holding throughout the state in order to help employers create safe workplaces and to inform them about new workers’ compensation regulations.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, State Compensation Insurance Fund guarantees the availability of workers' compensation coverage at cost to all California employers and competes fairly with private carriers. State Fund is a wholly self-supporting non-profit enterprise that serves as a moderating and stabilizing influence on California's workers' compensation insurance system.