Return To Work Makes Business Sense
Employers can lessen the impact an injury will have on their workplace by taking steps to effectively manage the injury.
Experience has shown that the best way to keep your productivity up and your WorkSafe premiums down is to return an injured worker to work safely and as soon as possible.
Your workers benefit by maintaining their job skills and financial security while they recover faster in a familiar workplace environment.
There are a number of easy steps you can take in order to facilitate a more efficient Return To Work process:
1. Lodge Claims Early - If an injured worker lodges a claim, forward the claim as quickly as you can. Experience shows that claims lodged promptly allow for faster intervention and end up costing less.
2. Maintain contact with the injured worker - As an employer your most important role is to talk with the injured worker. A worker who knows that they are a valued employee and doesn't feel like they have been forgotten is more likely to want to return to work. Keeping the lines of communication open also provides an opportunity to begin discussing Return to Work options.
3. Consider Return to Work Options - There are usually a range of Return to Work options open to employers and workers. For example - discuss the following with the injured worker and their doctor:
- Alternative or lighter duties
- Changing the way the work is done
- Modifying the work area
- Reduced hours and/or rest periods throughout the day
- Other potential ways to help the worker return to work safely
4. Contact your WorkSafe Agent - Your WorkSafe Agent is there to help with ideas on how to best manage an injured worker's Return to Work. Give them a call.
By working together with injured workers you are not only helping them to a fuller and faster recovery, you are also managing your business more efficiently.
