Gone are the days when the burden of a workplace injury was pushed to the workers' compensation manager and left to them to figure it out. 

Gone are the days when workers were left to fend for themselves in these situations and were viewed as outcasts on the work floor, letting an injury impact their ability to do their job. 

Successful workplace injury management strategies require the employer to take an active role in managing the case by addressing concerns before they become problematic, creating a safe and supportive system for reporting and responding to injuries, and providing the employee with meaningful work and positive support if an injury does occur. 

The employer has a relationship with the employee. Managers and leaders are the people who know the work the best. The combined day-to-day interaction with the injured employee can frame and motivate a triumphant return to work strategy. A successful return to work strategy means decreased workers’ compensation costs, improved employee morale/ retention and increased productivity. 

How can you create a thriving workplace injury management program? 

Be proactive and include workers in your decision-making process. Preparing a detailed job site analysis gives us that opportunity.  

• The interview portion of a Job Site Analysis allows us to talk with many different employees, gain multiple perspectives of the work, and collaborate with the workers, analysts, and your company.  

• The data gathering portion helps us understand the physical demands of each job and preemptively address problematic items. Problematic items may include poor workstation setups, required lifting tasks outside of company-defined weight limitations, functions that require movements outside of the power zone and safety zone, tasks or movements that require additional training, and the use of hoists, lifts, and assists as necessary parts of their job. A detailed Job Site Analysis is essential to make data-informed decisions. 

• If there is an injury, reanalyze the workstation with input from the injured worker and others who do the job. If it happened once and is left unaddressed, it is more than likely going to happen again. It gives us the opportunity to listen to the workers, support and educate on safe practices as needed and make ergonomic changes to set all workers up for success going forward. 

Workers feel valued when the company mindset shifts from statistics, including injury rates, productivity rates, and costs, to one focusing on their health and wellness. This is highly apparent in younger workforces. 

• The key is implementing safety and employee health and wellness initiatives that care for the whole person. This may include education on safe lifting practices and body mechanics, reinforcing safe lifting and workplace practices with on-the-job training and monitoring, and encouraging your employees to value sleep, hydration, and nutrition and to take care of their aches and pains before they become problematic. 

• A safe environment that encourages timely reporting of all injuries is essential. Provide the injury reporting process to your employees early and often. When an injury is reported, meet it with openness and opportunity. Stay positive and supportive. Remember, not all reported injuries will become recordable with OSHA First Aid. 

• Foster an inclusive environment built on respect, trust, and communication. Younger generations value these three elements. The sooner you integrate them within a supportive team, the sooner they develop safe work habits. 

Communicate 

• Make sure everyone’s role on the team is clearly defined and the key players are working well together. Outcomes and employee outlook improve significantly when employees feel their care team is working together. Key players may include: 

• Employers: Provide the medical staff with an accurate injury report and detailed job description. Medical providers like to have a precise idea of what occurred and the nature of the work. For example, the ‘ability to lift 35 lb’ is a lot different than ‘lifting 35lb from a shelf at 24 in, carrying it 5 ft, and placing it on a shelf at 54 in.’ Those tasks require a completely different course of care for someone with a shoulder injury. 

• Injured workers: getting them back to work and regular activity as soon as possible speed up recovery. Employers look at the restrictions, compare them to the job tasks that they may be able to perform, and set them up for success in a supportive environment.  

• Insurers: ensure everyone is doing their part to help the employee on their journey. 

• Doctors: medical providers specializing in work-related injuries must focus on what the worker can do and communicate clearly with the employee and employer. A provider who listens to the team and collaborates on return-to-work decisions is critical to preventing reinjury and setting the employee up for long-term success. Return-to-work testing can help immensely with these decisions. 

• Workplace rehabilitation providers: keeping workers in the workplace has improved outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. Having access to an onsite physical therapist or occupational therapist with expertise in the work performed at your facility is a huge benefit. They likely already have a rapport with the employee and a positive reputation on the floor. This reassures the employee that their rehabilitation expert knows their work and what they must get back to doing. Return-to-work testing can facilitate discussions on updating the work they can do, returning to work safely, and developing a specific maintenance program to keep them well in the long term.

Now that we understand what makes a premier workplace injury management program, in Part 2, we will learn how communicating with and supporting the injured employee is crucial for a triumphant return to work.