Injury and Rehabilitation

Worker disability it can be very costly to Canadian employers - between 10 and 20 billion dollars a year according to The Physician Education Project in Workplace Health (PEPWH). Other than the impact it has on employers it affects employees in a major way.  

Injured employees will deal with decreased physical and mental health.  The after effects of an injury differ for those who remained employed and for those who cannot go back to work.  If injured workers do not return to work they usually experience decreased sense of self-worth, more depression, anger, role disruption and powerlessness, family stress, financial strain and substance abuse.  

Dr Emile Tompa with RAACWI found after controlling for financial aspects of work injuries, the chances of a marital breakup were 25% compared to the rest of the population.

When employees do return to work there are many factors supervisor should take into consideration.  For example if an employee returns after 12 weeks they may need reorientation, reintegration, or retraining.  Co-workers relationships and productivity are both affected due to a worker’s injury, the returning to work process needs to be done correctly.

Mary Ann Baynton who is a specialist in crafting complex accommodation strategies for return-to-work situations created a six-step process.  She suggests that as soon as someone leaves a plan should be devised.

The six-step process:

Step 1: Maintain contact - Stay in touch with employees so it makes it easier for them to return to work.  

Step 2: Recognize and address co-worker reactions - Find ways to address co-worker reactions and concerns about their colleague while still maintaining their privacy.  

Step 3: The role of the supervisor - The supervisor needs to deal with concerns from the organization, co-workers, the returning employee, and his or her own needs.  

Step 4: The job - Understanding the tasks and responsibilities of the injured employees job. 

Step 5: The employee’s role - Who better knows the difficulty in coming back to work with an injury than the employee, it is wise to incorporate suggestions from the employee into the return-to-work plan.  

Step 6: Creating the return-to-work plan - Other than the specific tasks the employee will be carrying out, the challenges the employee may face needs to be considered as well. 

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Posted by: suhujitha on 2010-06-29 14:29:16

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