What Employers Don’t Prepare for With a Workplace Injury.

A non-fatal accident at work can seriously impact the life of your injured employee, as well as having a lasting impact on your business. At Rehab Management, we support employers who have an injured worker and guide them on how to maintain a happy and productive workplace while navigating the world of worker’s compensation.

Some major factors that employers do not take into account when there is a workplace accident include low morale, reduced manpower, liaising with allied health professionals and what the new normal looks like when your employee returns to work.

Workplace Morale

The strength of the team is each individual member, but the strength of each member is the team. In other words, when you lose an employee to an accident at work, you have lost an important part of the team. This loss will likely affect how your employees feel about the workplace and operate in their roles, whereby a decrease in morale can hurt your work environment. Depending on the industry you operate in, your employee may have had an injury that was serious. This can keep other team members from operating at 100% in fear of also getting hurt.
It is important to acknowledge the feelings of your staff, and to try and identify a best course of action to make sure the accident won’t happen again. Through engaging with Rehab Management, we can help with incorporating a workplace health and wellbeing program. This can set your workplace up for success physically and mentally, and address feelings of angst or fear. In addition, we offer manual handling training and ergonomic assessments under our Corporate Health services to diagnose any risks that can lead to injury.

Reduced Manpower

A struggle many employers face is knowing how to delegate the duties of the hurt employee. Due to a number of factors, your workforce may be dealing with an increased workload already and you may need them to take on the additional responsibilities of the injured worker, which which can lead to burnout and additional costs such as overtime. The other option is finding a temporary employee to fill the role, which can upset the workplace culture.

We offer a variety of mental health and wellbeing supports, including bespoke apps and programs. This can help identify how your workers are feeling and their mental health state, which can determine their capability in picking up more workload.
To fill the role, we can assist through our work trials and host employer services. If you’re looking to bring someone on long term, we offer pre-employment assessments and health checks, which looks at the potential employees capacity to physically or psychologically fulfill the tasks of the role.

Meetings with Your Worker and Their Allied Health Professional

Another factor that employers won’t take into account is having to engage with doctors and other allied health professionals that are rehabilitating your hurt employee. Having regular meetings with your worker and their doctor is important, as it will guide the process of returning to work and rehabilitation, while managing the feelings and expectations of the employee. It also demonstrates your commitment to their wellbeing and recovery.
The Rehab Management team are extremely knowledgeable about workers compensation and are able to answer any queries that may arise in your meetings with your worker and their support team.

Capacity When Returning to Work

It is important to tailor a return to work plan in to ensure that returning is safe and durable. Your staff member’s accident may have impacted the way they can complete their job, and they may not be able to return to work in the same way. Although the goal is to return to the same job, you will need to discuss with the worker and their allied health professionals about what is suitable.
If they are unable to return to work in the same capacity, this is when an employer should make arrangements for their other duties to be picked up. The worker should be at the forefront of this process, and the plan should be monitored and modified as the worker’s capacity for work increases.
The focus is to look at what your worker can do, without blaming them for what they cannot.
At Rehab Management, our focus is mutually beneficial outcomes for all parties involved. Although each State and Territory has different workers compensation scheme layouts, our teams live and work in these locations are well-versed in each area’s different compensation schemes and have access to established local community networks.
Find out more about more about your state or territory by visiting our website and clicking on your location: https://www.rehabmanagement.com.au/our-services/workers-compensation/

Our goal is always to gain the best outcomes for our clients and their employees. When an employee gets hurt, your workplace can endure some challenging times. However, with the right supports, you are able to thrive and come out the other end stronger and more productive.
Reach out to us today and discuss your business needs.