Management of injured workers requires cooperation from a number of parties including the employer, injured worker, employees, doctor, insurer and other health professionals.
Steadfast Workplace Risk helps manage your workers’ injuries both effectively and efficiently as we believe that claims management and return to work is vital, but only part of the injury management process.
Research indicates workers with a return to work plan have greater odds of returning to work. In the first 30 days after a claim, having a written or unwritten return to work plan increases the odds of returning to work by up to 1.7 times. Having a written plan was even more important after 30 days, increasing the odds of returning to work by 3.4 times (“Return to work plans for injured Australian workers: Overview and association with return to work” Monash University (2018).
A Return to Work (RTW) Co-ordinator is an employee, or consultant, nominated by an employer whose principle purpose is to assist injured workers to return to work in a safe and durable manner. The RTW Co-ordinator ensures the policies and procedures in an employer’s return to work program are followed. Not all employers have the luxury of a dedicated headcount for this position hence utilise Steadfast Workplace Risk as a more effective resource.
A RTW Co-ordinator also has the role of facilitating a teamwork approach between the worker, management, insurer and health practitioners to develop and implement a return to work plan for the injured worker.
Rehabilitation is basically the restoration of function following injury or illness.
Injury Management on the other hand involves intervention by way of medical treatment, RTW, claims management, rehabilitation and human resource management practices in the workplace.
Thus the promotion of injury management and early intervention is the key to long-term reduction in both direct and indirect costs to employers.