Occupational Rehabilitation For Therapy Journal: Process, Policies, And Procedures

Organization’s process for the management of employees’ rehabilitation

Discuss about the Occupational Rehabilitation for Therapy Journal.

Workplace Rehabilitation can be referred to the practices and science of returning the injured workers to the work activity level which is appropriate for their cognitive and functional capacity; both the factors are influenced by their injuries’ severity. The occupational therapists at the workplace must facilitate the individual’s ability of returning to the workplace. Occupational therapists provide their clients with assistance for reaching the maximum functional level and meeting the emotional and physical demands of the job (Adam, Peters & Chipchase, 2013).

The report highlights the points on how to follow the organization’s process for managing the employees’ rehabilitation. Therapists are allowed to recommend the employees of minimizing their workload in order to prevent more injury during the occupational rehabilitation. Individual sessions are carried out in order to manage their work stress (Ahlstrom, Hagberg & Dellve, 2013).

The report throws light on the organization’s procedure of managing the employee rehabilitation. It further includes the Rehabilitation and Return to work policies which confirms the worker’s compensation insurance policy, risk analysis, commencement programs, feedbacks, proper consultation, evaluation of programs and many other factors.

Rehabilitation management system refers to the framework of several procedures and processes which is used in order to ensure that a company is able to fulfill all the tasks required for its achievement in rehabilitation objectives. It includes the documented statement, which gives a clear idea regarding the commitment of senior management towards providing effective rehabilitation to the employees (Casey, Guy & Cameron, 2014). Moreover, it marks the objectives of the employers and sets the standard, which is used for formulating the strategic direction. The rehabilitation management system recognized the compliance obligations in order to provide the employees with effective arrangements. It promotes continuous improvement and also communicates relevant information to the employees. Moreover, it provides them with internal as well as external accountability and manages things at place for controlling the structures of the risk (Enderby, John & Petheram, 2013).

The Department of Health commits to provide rehabilitation at the workplace for the injured and unwell workers or employees, irrespective of their entitlement of compensation. The department maintains an efficient and effective rehabilitation system at the workplace, as per the Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, 2003. The department is committed to ensure that the workers are fully insured for all sorts of work related injury and sickness. Moreover, the workers receive compensation on the basis of their sickness. If any worker is not well during his/her working hours and claims for compensation, the company is bound to provide him/her with all sorts of help (Furlan et al., 2012). The entity of employment of the workers is covered under the compensation and insurance policy which ensures;

• The implementation of work safety and health policy at the associated workplace.
• Rehabilitation standard as well as its supporting documents.
• Availability of appropriate and qualified rehabilitation processes and return to the workplace coordination, in order to support the injured workers.
• Responsibility and implementation of the financial expenses for the suitable duties.
• Reasonable adjustments to the solutions, as per the Reasonable Adjustment Policy.
• Arrangements and adjustments in order to support rehabilitation at the workplace, through modifications and changes, such as, training, mentoring programs and more activities.
• This also includes the employers to hire proper and qualified occupational therapists for providing the injured workers with recommendations and expert guidance (Gold et al., 2012).

Development of Rehabilitation or Return to Work Policy

Occupational therapists at the workplace facilitate the ability of the individuals to return to the workplace. They help in assisting them to reach their maximum functional level to meet the job’s demands. At times, they may recommend the employers to even lessen the workload and pressure on the affected employees. They encourage a work friendly environment that empowers an employee to achieve the job related goals and in turn, increases his/her productivity level (King, 2013). Occupational therapies include development of assertiveness, interpersonal and communication skills, temperamental control and stress management. Organizations are required to adopt effective management systems for rehabilitation for the welfare of their employees. For this, they need to undertake several policies as well as guidelines and at times, they may even have to reshuffle those. They should consider redesigning of a job and allot alternative duties and responsibilities for the employee who is unwell (Lysaght et al., 2012).

There should be systems which will monitor as well as manage early warning signals and the employers must understand when an employee is vulnerable, for example, from their absenteeism or attitude change. They should be provided with training and mentoring sessions which requires the involvement of qualified professionals. Employers should communicate with their employees, quite often, to manage and analyze the risk (Mabin & Randall, 2014). It is their duty to gather feedback regarding the condition of the employees from the occupational therapists. The employers should also motivate them to return to work once they are well and provide them with financial support and compensation. Moreover, it is their duty to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of all the processes and programs regarding rehabilitation (Odeen et al., 2012).

Workplace Rehabilitation helps in providing the employees with proper treatment who suffer from the workplace injuries or some kind of illness. It is required for all the organizations, be it small or big, to develop certain policies and procedures for rehabilitation and return to work (Pomaki et al., 2012). The following are the basic recommendations for the development of the organizational rehabilitation policies;

• The Health department of the workplace must provide the injured workers with compensation and insurance. The department is bound to maintain a proper and an effective rehabilitation system, as per the Worker’s Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2003. It should have a strict guideline and policy and maintain their rehabilitation standard, in accordance with the Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2014 (Odeen et al., 2012). Insurance protection must be there in order to ensure that all the workers are under the insurance policy. The workers must remain insured during the working tenure which will protect them from all kinds of injuries as well as illness related to work. Our organization allocates individual employees’ compensation and insurance policies for each Health and Hospital service. Moreover, it covers all the workers of each division and agency with the insurance policy (Ross, 2013).
• Under this Act, workers are asked for proper cooperation with the management team, their head as well as the doctors and therapists. This will enable our organization to undertake proper decision on the workers’ claim, which proves to be beneficial for the workers as they will receive proper medical treatment and apt rehabilitation as fast as possible. In order to make sure that an employee’s claim is made efficiently, the management team must see that the worker has completed and signed all the necessary forms regarding the treatment. The management team must also check the medical certificates carefully and have a copy of those. Moreover, it is the duty of the management team to check that all the information provided is true and not fabricated. The claim should be processed after taking care of all the above points (Mabin & Randall, 2014).
• It is the organization’s responsibility to handle a dispute appropriately. When any workplace injury or illness occur, the employees are required to notify the issue directly to the manager, for which compensation is payable. The management team should be well equipped with all the necessary kits and medical treatments and even conduct a thorough investigation, if necessary. Occupational therapists must be there at any organization in order to take care of all the medical requirements swiftly (King, 2013).
• Organizations must have accredited workplace rehabilitation providers (WRP) who are required to guide the employees who suffer from problems. However, if any employee rejects the workplace therapists, he/she has the right to choose their own WRP. They can nominate their own doctor for their treatment and injury management. In that case the organization should fully support their choice, but at the same time, it is the duty of the management team to fully analyze their compensation claim after identifying their absence period. They should also ensure that they are consulting appropriate therapists and doctors (Gold et al., 2012).
• Arrangements and adjustments must be undertaken by the organization, in order to support rehabilitation at the workplace, through modifications and changes, such as, training, mentoring programs, risk analysis, resolution process and more activities (Furlan et al., 2012).
• It is the duty of the organization’s employers to communicate with their employees, quite often, in order to manage and analyze the risk. They should gather feedback regarding the condition of the employees from the occupational therapists. The employers should also motivate them to return to work once they are well and provide them with financial support and compensation. They must organize programs and training sessions to reduce their work pressure. Moreover, it is their duty to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of all the processes and programs regarding rehabilitation (Casey, Guy & Cameron, 2014).

Conclusion

To conclude, all the organization must be aware of the workplace rehabilitation policies and procedures. If any employee feels that the workplace manager is not able to assist him/her, then he/she can directly contact the member of Health Safety and Environment team. It is the right of the employees to raise their concerns and claims and if it is not met, they can make official complaint. Organizations must take care of their employees’ well being. Workplace Rehabilitation procedures helps in providing the employees with proper treatment who suffer from the workplace injuries or some kind of illness. It is required for all the organizations, be it small or big, to develop certain policies and procedures for rehabilitation and return to work.

References

Adam, K., Peters, S., & Chipchase, L. (2013). Knowledge, skills and professional behaviours required by occupational therapist and physiotherapist beginning practitioners in work?related practice: A systematic review. Australian occupational therapy journal, 60(2), 76-84.

Ahlstrom, L., Hagberg, M., & Dellve, L. (2013). Workplace rehabilitation and supportive conditions at work: a prospective study. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 23(2), 248-260.

Casey, P. P., Guy, L., & Cameron, I. D. (2014). Determining return to work in a compensation setting: A review of New South Wales workplace rehabilitation service provider referrals over 5 years. Work, 48(1), 11-20.

Enderby, P., John, A., & Petheram, B. (2013). Therapy outcome measures for rehabilitation professionals: speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy. John Wiley & Sons.

Furlan, A. D., Gnam, W. H., Carnide, N., Irvin, E., Amick, B. C., DeRango, K., … & Bültmann, U. (2012). Systematic review of intervention practices for depression in the workplace. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 22(3), 312-321.

Gold, P. B., Oire, S. N., Fabian, E. S., & Wewiorski, N. J. (2012). Negotiating reasonable workplace accommodations: Perspectives of employers, employees with disabilities, and rehabilitation service providers. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 37(1), 25-37.

King, P. M. (Ed.). (2013). Sourcebook of occupational rehabilitation. Springer Science & Business Media.

Lysaght, R., Fabrigar, L., Larmour-Trode, S., Stewart, J., & Friesen, M. (2012). Measuring workplace social support for workers with disability. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 22(3), 376-386.

Mabin, A., & Randall, C. (2014). The role of client motivation in workplace rehabilitation. Journal of Social Inclusion, 5(1), 5-18.

Odeen, M., Magnussen, L. H., Maeland, S., Larun, L., Eriksen, H. R., & Tveito, T. H. (2012). Systematic review of active workplace interventions to reduce sickness absence. Occupational Medicine, 63(1), 7-16.

Pomaki, G., Franche, R. L., Murray, E., Khushrushahi, N., & Lampinen, T. M. (2012). Workplace-based work disability prevention interventions for workers with common mental health conditions: a review of the literature. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 22(2), 182-195.

Ross, J. (2013). Occupational therapy and vocational rehabilitation. John Wiley & Sons.