EBM Insights podcast series is a deep dive into current issues surrounding insurance and risk management in today’s ever-changing world.
This podcast is the first in a series that focused on strategies and tips to help manage an injured employee Return to Work. Joining in this discussion is Daniel Carter and Chris Mather from Star Injury Management. Also joining is Mary Zlnay from EBM Insurance & Risk’s Injury Management team.
A transcript of the interview with Star Injury Management is below. The complete EBM Insights podcast series is available here.
Introduction:
EBM recently sat down with STAR Injury Management to record a 3-part series that covers the many aspects of Return-to-Work plans.
Our first episode with Daniel Carter and Chris Mather focuses on strategies and tips to help manage an injured employee return to work.
Disclaimer:
In this podcast, we have provided general advice only and not personal advice. In giving this advice, we have not considered your personal circumstances.
00:00:13 Speaker 2 – Sandy Cattley (Senior Marketing Specialist, EBM Insurance & Risk)
Welcome to EBM insights.
Today’s podcast is the first in a series that will focus on strategies and tips to help manage an injured employee Return to Work.
To kick this off we will be discussing how to involve an injured worker in developing their return-to-work plan and how to identify suitable duties for them to to perform upon their return.
Joining me in this discussion is Daniel Carter and Chris Mather from Star Injury Management.
Also joining us is Mary Zlnay from EBM Insurance & Risk’s Injury Management team.
Welcome to you all.
OK, so Daniel, can you explain what an approved workplace vocational rehab provider is and how they fit into the workers compensation scheme.
00:00:56 Speaker 4 – Daniel Carter (STAR Injury Management)
So, an approved workplace rehab provider, or WRP for short, is there to assist the injured worker and the employer through the barriers that come throughout the return-to-work process. Workers’ comp and return to work is difficult at the best of times so it’s nice to have someone there to assist.
WRPs are qualified health professionals, such as occupational therapists like myself, physiotherapists or psychologists who have expertise in addressing the sort of physical and psychological barriers that occur at the workplace and may impact the worker in their return to work.
WRPs are approved and governed by our governing body Work Cover WA and have the appropriate qualifications and expertise to assist and provide relevant services based on the assessed needs of the worker and the workplace.
You could sort of say we’re kind of like a link between, or a missing link between the treating parties in the workplace.
00:01:49 Speaker 2
Research consistently shows that returning to work after illness or injury can deliver many benefits to the worker, their employer, and the community.
What are your thoughts on this statement?
00:01:59 Speaker 4
Yeah, I think definitely work is sort of something that you know when you miss out on that you can really see the the impacts it has, especially in the time we’re living in with COVID.
I think the link to mental illness is quite apparent, but yeah, the evidence is certainly compelling, and we know that you know the longer someone is off work, the less chance they have of returning so it is really important for workers to be provided with the correct support to enable them to return to work quickly and safely as well.
So, work gives individuals a sense of purpose and provides social inclusion, financial security and allows workers to feel like they’re contributing to their families and society.
It’s important for workers to remain engaged and use work as a tool to build up their capacity while they recover both physically and psychologically from their injury.
00:02:45 Speaker 5 – Chris Mather (STAR Injury Management)
Yeah, just in addition to that Daniel Star Injury Management is a signatory to the Consensus Statement of the Health Benefits of Work which is the research behind that the longer someone is off, you know the more difficult it is for them to return to the workplace.
So, this is what we utilize in all of our interventions to ensure our workers have the best possible chance of recovery, both in the workplace and also their life following a workplace injury.
00:03:04 Speaker 2
Thank you.
00:03:06 Speaker 3 (Mary)
As a result of workplace injury, an injured work will be certified fit for suitable duties or unfit. So, what does this mean for the worker and the employer.
00:03:16 Speaker 4
So, a worker is certified unfit normally towards the start of their injury. They won’t be able to return to the workplace on light duties at this stage. The focus of this period will be on treatment. You know, Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology or even surgery, and it’s important to ensure the worker has the appropriate treatment in place.
I strongly recommend for employers to continue to remain engaged in communication with their worker throughout this period, as it can be quite isolating and difficult for the worker when they’re not at work, and then the other option you’ve got is when a worker is certified fit for suitable duties, they’ll be able to return to the workplace in some capacity. This is normally stipulated by the treating GP on a medical certificate, outlining their capacity and what restrictions are in place.
Duties need to be meaningful and are used as a therapeutic intervention to enable a worker to to build capacity.
Yeah, I think it’s important to make sure the total duties are meaningful, you don’t want a tradie going back and doing office duties as it’s going to decrease their motivation.
It’s just going to probably have a negative result overall.
So, if an employer has difficulty identifying suitable duties, a workplace rehab provider can be assigned to review the work duties and put a return-to-work program in place if suitable duties aren’t to be accommodated internally. We sort of outsource what’s called a work hardening program where you find the host employer sort of in line with what they are doing before, and it’s just used to build up their capacity until they’re ready to return to their preinjury role with their preinjury employer.
00:04:51 Speaker 2
What steps to the employer and the worker need to follow?
00:04:55 Speaker 4
Yeah, so the the employer, in collaboration with the worker and treating parties will work together to establish a return-to-work plan. This will provide the worker with a graduated approach to enable them to return to duties. The plan needs to be reviewed regularly and endorsed by the treating GP to ensure the worker does not re-aggravate their symptoms and take a step backwards.
00:05:16 Speaker 3
OK, and what is considered best practice for identifying and monitoring suitable duties?
00:05:22 Speaker 4
Yeah, so Star have developed a fact sheet that identifies tips to support suitable GPs, and this will be available at the end of the podcast.
But a couple of important steps to include are it’s really important to involve the injured worker throughout the return-to-work plan.
It’s their recovery and it’s important for them to be empowered in a part of the process which will also increase their motivation.
Try to identify duties in the same work environment to what they normally work in. Duties don’t have to be office duties. Like I said prior duties certainly need to be meaningful to the worker.
Allocate duties that are not time sensitive. The last thing you want to do is get a worker back for their first day, after you know, two months off and they’ve got deadlines to meet. It’s just going to stress him out.
And probably have a negative impact overall.
Yeah, and it’s important to organize regular breaks and for the worker to work within pain as well. You know you don’t want the worker to go too hard and re-aggravate their symptoms.
Yeah, it’s important to set clear expectations early to make sure the worker knows what to do if they are struggling at work and you know who to go to end what to do try to obtain a clear picture of recovery time frames, normally at a GP appointment.
Keep your worker engaged to ensure they are invited to team events and meetings.
This is often forgotten, and you can imagine the type of impact it would have on a worker.
You know, they’ve just come back and then they’re sort of getting left out of these key meetings and whatnot.
And another tip could be to keep a list of projects that your company wants to do but don’t have capacity for.
I think we all have those lying around, so you’ve got a list of them, and before the worker gets injured you can kind of have them ready to go, and that’s going to help the worker and you could say the company as well.
00:07:03 Speaker 2
That’s really great information, Daniel.
Thank you.
So, do employers need to engage or appoint a workplace rehabilitation provider on all workers compensation claims?
00:07:13 Speaker 4
No, I wouldn’t say a workplace rehab provider everybody needs to be on all claims.
If an employer has the capacity to support their injured worker and can identify suitable duties and develop a return-to-work plan to support their worker back to the pre-injury capacity, then a workplace rehab provider wouldn’t need to be engaged.
If an employer does require assistance for the above though, then it’s recommended a referral is made as soon as possible.
00:07:38 Speaker 3
We understand the employer, injured worker, treating doctor and supervisor are all integral to the success of a worker returning to their pre-injury duties.
What recommendations do you have to assist to make the most of the suitable duties and return to work plan?
00:07:55 Speaker 4
Yeah, so as as mentioned earlier, it’s important for meaningful suitable duties to be identified which will enable a worker to increase their capacity.
The worker needs to be included in the development of the return. I recommend open and frequent communication between the worker and employer to monitor the plan and make changes in line with the treating doctors’ recommendations.
If the plan is not progressing as initially anticipated, I encourage workers to understand the benefits of engagement in suitable duties to assist in the return to work and provide education on how it works can be used as a therapeutic tool for both physical and mental health.
00:08:32 Speaker 2
So, Chris, what advice would you provide to an employer who is having difficulties in identifying suitable duties?
00:08:40 Speaker 5
So, in this situation, from a workplace rehabilitation perspective, the easiest way to do this, if a referral has been made, is to complete what’s called the work site assessment which is essentially a visit to the workplace to review for light duties, suitable duties, anything that the employer has that can possibly be provided.
From a long-term perspective, I feel something like a job dictionary or usual duties register is beneficial for an employer to develop for job roles to identify the full scope of a worker role, including the functional demands as well as some other suitable duties which can be provided.
The treating doctor can also use the job dictionary as a tool to understand the full scope of the role and provide clear recommendations and subsequently progressions in capacity to return to the pre-duties.
00:09:25 Speaker 2
I’ve heard the term supernumerary support. What is that exactly?
00:09:31 Speaker 5
So supernumerary is essentially when a worker comes back to work when there may not necessarily be productive or time sensitive duties available.
We use this strategy when there are no suitable duties available and to avoid the need for a work trial program which can elongate the workplace rehabilitation process and sometimes potentially cause the workers to become disillusioned with the process.
So supernumerary means having the injured worker back at work with the wage fully or partially funded by the insurance claim. So, this means the employer can decide how productive the worker is when they are there, and then like you know claim back wages as they see fit.
They can assist with medically suitable aspects of the role but without the pressure or expectation need to be fully productive and the medical aspects are provided by the treating GP or surgeon in these instances.
00:10:21 Speaker 2
So, before we wrap up, what are some key takeaways that employers should also consider when supporting workers return to work?
00:10:29 Speaker 4
Yeah, so I think the most important take away from today to support workers to return to work is definitely effective.
Communication and support. Employers should continue to maintain contact frequently with their workers and continue to engage them in workplace activities such as team bonding events and meetings.
Even if the employer does require a workplace rehabilitation provider, that doesn’t mean you can just outsource everything to their workplace rehab provider.
It’s really important for the worker, for you as the employer to maintain open contact and make them feel like they’re still a part of the company.
00:11:02 Speaker 5
Yeah, in in addition to this Daniel I feel we touched on the work trial or work hardening program versus supernumerary and suitable duties.
I think at all costs, the endpoint should always try to avoid a work trial program unless absolutely necessary.
More often than not, it does lead to work disillusionment.
Whilst most workers are OK with it. You know, on on the odd case it can really impact on the eventual return to work outcome if the worker feels they are farmed out to another workplace. So, unless they’re in mining or you know the work host employer is specifically required, I think a Supernumerary Return to Work program is always the best way to go.
00:11:42 Speaker 2
So, thanks for everyone for joining us today.
As mentioned at the start of the podcast, this is the first in a series with Star Injury Management, so listen out for the next episode which will also appear on Spotify.
Thank you to Mary, Chris, and Daniel.
