Focus On Occupational Rehabilitation

Worksafe Australia has defined occupational rehabilitation as:

While there are other factors to consider when addressing an employee's rehabilitation needs, for all staff, their occupation forms a major and significant part of their lives.

From the ages of 16 to 65, work takes up the majority of weekdays and sometimes overlaps into weekends.

Where change, such as illness or injury, impacts on occupation, employees can be left at a loss to know what to do.  Over time, they can become de-motivated, and feel they have become 'useless'.

This lack of motivation can lead to extended time off work and seriously impact on program costs.  The process may start within weeks of the date an employee is injured.

This is why Comcare looks at assisting employers:

• maintain employees at work, or
• return employees back to work as soon as practicable by modifying the job and work hours to suit the injured employee's capabilities.

As the employee's condition improves, tasks and hours are increased with a strong focus on a return to pre-injury duties.

To assist employees with this goal, Comcare has developed what is called the 'Return to Work hierarchy', which provides employees with steps to gradually ease them back into full time work:

• same job and same workplace;

• modified job but same workplace;

• different job/same workplace;

• same or modified job/different workplace; or

• different job/different workplace.

If the highest level of the hierarchy has been demonstrated as impossible to achieve, then the next level will become the goal.  This process of elimination continues through the hierarchy until suitable employment is found.

For each case, there is also a hierarchy of hours of work, which are:

• full-time or pre-injury hours;

• graduated return to work; or

• permanent reduced hours of work.