Why the First Five Days Matter: How Workplace Physiotherapy Triage and Onsite Physiotherapy Change Injury Outcomes
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Just as an elite athlete would be assessed after injury prior to returning to full training or competition, workers returning from injury should similarly be assessed to ensure that they are capable of safely returning to the workplace without risk of aggravation or re-injury.
A Fitness For Work assessment determines whether an employee is physically fit and capable of performing the requirements of the job or task. The results of this assessment will indicate what the risk of injury is for the employee when undertaking the work allowing informed decisions to be made in order to keep the employee safe.
Following an injury a Fit For Work Assessment can be used to ensure the workers have fully recovered from their injury and can safely return to their pre-injury role.
A worker who can not safely perform a task or job will not only pose a risk to themselves but others in the same working environment. The Fit for Work Assessment ensures everyone in the work environment can safely perform their role. This minimises the chance of an accident which could potentially cause injury to others in the work environment.
Fitness for work assessments are an increasingly beneficial strategy to manage an aging and unhealthy workforce. By performing fitness for work assessments periodically these assessments can be systemically used to ensure each worker continues to maintain the ability to safely perform the demands of their role and prevent injury and associated injury costs
Employ Health uses a systematic data-driven approach so that our Fitness for Work Assessments can provide a thorough and safe approach to both the employee and workplace’s overall safety. We leverage our detailed knowledge of your workplace to evaluate whether an employee has the capacity to perform their work without risk to themselves or other employees.
Prior to commencing a Fitness for Work Assessment, Employ Health will commit to collecting accurate job data of the role including exact lifting requirements and frequency of manual tasks. This database is then utilised when performing a functional capacity evaluation to ensure that a worker’s capacity is assessed to the exact job requirements of the role and can work/resume work safely.
As a leading performer in Workplace Health, Employ Health’s team of physiotherapists are all held to an extremely high standard of performance. Physiotherapists conducting fitness for work assessments are regularly reviewed internally and undergo extensive training to ensure that professional and meticulous assessments are conducted every time.
Employ Health currently provides assessments across a multitude of workplaces and industries. We recognise the fact that different workplaces and roles will have different requirements that do not benefit from a one-size-fits-all assessment approach. Prior to commencing assessments we will establish the individual requirements of the assessment for the workplace and adapt the assessment and processes to meet the needs of the partner.
Being fit for work means you have the capacity to perform the requirements and tasks of your job in a safe manner.
Specific legislation will vary by state and country. Effectively every workplace will need to comply with this legislation to ensure they are taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the worker and workplace. Your company’s Health and Safety team or Employ Health Physiotherapist will be able to advise you further on the specific legislation in your area.
This will depend on internal company policy and individual state/country requirements. As a generalisation, a Fit for Work Medical will generally last until there is an indication that another assessment is required i.e. a circumstance such as an injury has occurred that puts a worker’s ability to safely perform work into question.
Following a Fitness for Work Assessment where a worker has demonstrated the capacity to safely complete the work required, a summary outcome of the assessment will be provided to the party who requested the assessment.
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View all articlesThe key to a productive workforce is a proactive rather than reactive approach to employee health. Early intervention physiotherapy can be your best tool in working to reduce the overall risk to employees and your business.
Employ Health’s Fit For Work assessment tailors assessments towards the specific demands of the role and provides guidance for businesses on how best to manage their worker risk.
Musculoskeletal injuries continue to account for the largest proportion of workplace injuries. An important focus of the risk management process is the aim to prevent these injuries by implementing control measures.
The ever-changing landscape of jobs in the workplace through technology and innovation can be a complex space to navigate, with many stakeholders in the business advocating for different perspectives.
Identification and assessment of risks is an essential aspect of workplace health and safety. Managing the risks arising from hazardous manual tasks is integral to taking a proactive approach to occupational musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) management.
Central to any thorough health and safety process is the fundamental principle of being able to identify, assess, implement controls and review these interventions.
A large percentage of musculoskeletal injuries can occur due to an underlying weakness of the musculoskeletal system or general fitness deconditioning.
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Employ Health physiotherapists are experienced in providing a task specific ergonomic assessment across a wide range of industries and roles, to improve the comfort and safety of workplaces and maximise efficiency and productivity.
Vehicle and driving ergonomics is as important to workers that spend many hours in a car as workstation ergonomics is important to office based employees.
Drug testing in the workplace can help create a safer work environment and improve the bottom line.
Psychosocial risk factors within the workplace – and how to create a mentally safe workplace – are now two areas of key focus across businesses in Australia, particularly amidst the pandemic.
A person at a workplace who is frequently required to use Personal Hearing Protection (PHP) to reduce the risk of hearing loss associated with noise that exceeds the exposure standard is required to have audiometric testing undertaken.