Return to Work programs are organised and coordinated processes by which a worker is returned to their normal duties after a period of injury or absence. It is important to remember that while return to work programs are most commonly understood to occur in the context of injury and absence from work due to injury, that return to work and return to job transitions are important for workers who have returned from leaves of absence during which changes to work processes may have occurred, and that these leave of absences may happen for reasons other than illness - like if a worker has caring duties for a new baby, young child, or older adult, for holidays, and for other reasons. Regardless of the reason, Return to Work programs assist workers to meet their demands of work as well as assist the business in managing worker performance in a transitional period.
The effectiveness of a return to work program relies on accurately defining the difference between a worker's current capacity and their required capacity when returning to work. This means that if a worker's injury, situation, or capacity is unstable or hasn't settled, then a return to work program might not be appropriate until such time as a worker is prepared and cleared to participate in this program. This clearance can be provided by certification and assessment by a worker's treating clinician, by occupational assessment, or by an external party. This is most often necessary where a worker has experienced an injury that requires rehabilitation, such as a broken bone. Following this, the worker's capacity is assessed regularly, either by a treating clinician or by a safety officer, to ensure that any deficits between actual and required performance are risk-managed and that support plans are put in place. This monitoring of presentation vs. performance informs the progression model for the return to work plan, where a worker's capacity is restored to the extent that they are able to meet their normal demands of work comfortably.
Return to work programs are formal processes that monitor, direct, and review a worker's progress in returning to their normal duties of work following an injury. This process relies on information provided by the worker and their managing clinician if appropriate, which is used by the worker's employer in collaboration with the worker themselves to ensure that the worker's duties at each stage of the return to work process are appropriate, sustainable, safe, and facilitate a successful return to work in a broad sense. That means that despite the dynamic nature of rehabilitating an injury in the context of an occupational environment, there is still a formal process of review that is undertaken to ensure that the overall trend is one of constructive improvement and consolidated gain.
Successful return to work programs require the investment and buy-in of numerous different stakeholders, central of which is the worker, and around whom their clinician, managing doctor, manager, rehabilitation coordinator, insurance case manager, surgeon, and many other people are arranged. The worker is the central point of the return to work process, and is the recipient of the support provided by those around them. Coordination, communication, and buy-in from these stakeholders is necessary to ensure that the worker receives the support they need in a timely and structured manner. Return to work is an ongoing and iterative process, and so these stakeholders will require communication, review, and reassessment in order to provide them with the best information to guide the process.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.