Page 409 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 16 February 2016
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following an injury or illness; and, where a worker cannot remain in their employment due to injury, they can assist in identifying transferable skills and alternative work. The dialogue around returning injured workers to meaningful employment is two-way, and a return-to-work coordinator can also play an important informal role in educating supervisors, injured workers and their co-workers about working safely following an injury.
In its 2015 report on best practice workers compensation, the Insurance Council of Australia identified return to work as being the single most important driver of success for all parties in workers compensation and early and sustainable return to work as being in the best interests of both employees and employers. In fact, the report goes on to identify the appointment of return-to-work coordinators as a key legislative enabler of return to work, along with the requirement to provide suitable alternative duties where a worker is unable in the short term or longer term to return to their pre-injury role.
As evidenced in the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine poison statement, both internationally and within Australia and New Zealand there is growing awareness that long-term work absence, work disability and unemployment are harmful to physical and mental health and wellbeing. Work absence tends to perpetuate itself, that is, the longer someone is off work, the less likely they become ever to return.
The story which the research reveals is compelling. It suggests that if a person is off work due to an injury for 20 days the chance of ever getting back to work is 70 per cent. After 45 days the chance of ever getting back to work is only 50 per cent, and after 70 days the chance of ever getting back to work is only 35 per cent. Involving a return-to-work coordinator dramatically improves a worker’s chance of staying in work. Getting workers back to work reduces long-term mental and physical disability and lowers costs for employers. The change proposed by this government will be a win for employers and injured workers.
Proper training of return-to-work coordinators is also essential. This bill will require employers to skill existing staff and ensure that return-to-work coordinators have the right information to do their job. Experience in other parts of Australia demonstrates that providing return-to-work coordinators with practical training provides the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their role effectively and confidently. To assist employers, WorkSafe ACT will have a list of suitable training providers available on their website.
Because return-to-work coordinators are already appointed elsewhere in Australia, the ACT government recognises that some employers may already have trained return-to-work coordinators in place or that they may choose to appoint return-to-work coordinators who already have the training, skills and/or experience to undertake the role. For this reason the bill enables recognition of trained provision in New South Wales. WorkSafe ACT will also exempt a return-to-work coordinator from completing training if the employer can demonstrate that their appointee already possesses appropriate skills, qualifications and experience that match those required from return-to-work coordinators in the ACT.
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