Corporate Healthcare: Why Is Injury Management Important?
In addition to personal safety, Occupational, Health and Safety (OH&S) is a serious matter for everyone living and working in Australia. This is because work or on-site injuries can have such a huge ripple effect on both business and employees.
For a company, injuries are especially horrifying when they affect the future capabilities of your employees. When employees are rendered disabled due to a work injury, they are no longer able to earn the same level of income and they often find it much harder to care for dependents.
While nobody plans to get injured, accidents do happen and occasionally, people will experience wounds and a level of physical trauma as a result. Access to efficient corporate medical services from a practice experienced in injury management is something every business needs because it could affect so many things in your company as well as in the lives of employees.
What Is Injury Management?
Injury management is a workplace-management process that is used by employers and medical management teams for each individual company. The process involves analysing various injury-related aspects such as leave, hospitalisation, recovery duration, recovery rate and medical bills of the employee until he or she is ready and able to return to work.
Why Is Injury Management Important?
Injury management is important because it provides employees with lots of physical, psychological and financial benefits. Effective injury management also minimizes work disruption and reduces the cost to both employee and employer.
The Injury Management Process
Before the right processes for injury management can be identified for all staff to follow, your business needs to understand the process. Here is just a quick look at the main process of injury management.
The injury occurs – When the injury occurs, your employee needs to be treated by a medical practitioner. This practitioner will analyse the extent of damage and if applicable, will issue your employee with a Workers Compensation First Medical Certificate which offers guidance on the right time to return to work.
The employee needs to complete this form and the form needs to be sent to the right safety and health institution immediately. A return to work program needs to be prepared by the injury management consultant and should be given to the employee as well as the supervisor or manager and the medical professional.
Return to work – There are certain regulations that need to be outlined within the return to work program. For example; if an employee ignores regulations and returns to work too early, they could be at risk for worsening the injury for which the company shouldn’t be held liable. The right procedures should also be in place should employees fail to return to work once the recovery period is over with.
Ongoing management – Supervisors should be kept informed on the employees’ process and should be supplied with information on future medical procedures. Progress medical certificates also need to be sent to the correct safety and health institutions. In some cases, there might be a difficulty for returning to work or maintaining the same level of work productivity. Your injury management consultant should be advised and the right vocational rehabilitation provider might be requested to guide the employee.
Finalisation – Injury management will no longer be required once the employee returns to work or gets transferred to an alternative suitable position and the worker will have to fill out a compensation final medical certificate.
Injury Management and Corporate Services at Ascot Family Practice
Injury management is important for establishing clear policies and procedures your staff and other employees need to follow after injury, illnesses or disabilities. The process is invaluable for facilitating the right procedures for keeping both businesses and employees safe financially and physically. Our Ascot-based practice offers reliable corporate medical services, including injury management for companies in all industries. Contact us today to learn more.
If you experience any adverse effects to your injury management treatments, consult your doctor or call 000 immediately.