Injury and illness support and rehabilitation
Schools need to have structured systems in place to support injured workers’ safe and early return to work.
In a positive workplace environment, workers should feel well-supported to report any instance of pain and discomfort.
Managers should have defined accountabilities for a return to work/rehabilitation outcomes.
Keep reading to learn more.
What is illness/injury support and rehabilitation?
A support and rehabilitation programme details how the school helps workers return to work safely and successfully.
It is an integral part of a board’s health and safety management system.
What are your board’s responsibilities?
Boards are responsible for ensuring systems, policies, and processes are in place to effectively prevent and manage employee discomfort, pain, and injury.
How can you demonstrate leadership in this area?
- Have a tangible commitment to injury and illness management in the workplace.
- Decide who does what and when – then stay consistent. Make sure everyone is clear on what they must do.
Why should your board ensure illness and injury rehabilitation?
Apart from the legal obligations to do so, it makes sense to have systems in place to prevent and minimise the occurrence of illness and injury and ensure a good understanding and practice around illness and injury rehabilitation.
Effective processes in this area will benefit employees’ wellness and productivity. Injury-related costs could decrease, making it easier for boards to meet legal requirements.
How to manage illness and injury rehabilitation?
- Communication – Ensure communication already exists before an injury.
Maintain early and regular contact with employees, GPs, and ACC.
Tell GPs to what extent you can provide suitable work, and tell ACC to what extent you can support employees. - Procedures – Ensure everyone knows the game plan and that it is clear. No surprises.
- Consistency – Do it the same every time so that everyone knows what to expect.
- Subject Matter Expert – Some workplaces have a Return to Work (RTW) coordinator (one point of contact), and some have managers/supervisors managing the RTW.
There are advantages to both, so do what is best for you, but however you do it, ensure you are setting people up to be successful. - Roles and responsibilities – Decide who does what and when, and stay consistent.
- Monitor and review – Keep an eye on workers as they return and learn from experience.
Questions your board could ask
- Have we ensured systems, policies, and processes are in place to effectively prevent and manage employee discomfort, pain, and injury?
- Is there a support and rehabilitation programme in place to help workers return to work?
Templates, resources, and references
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Ministry of Education
ACC
- Supporting your injured employee to recover at workopen_in_new
- What we coveropen_in_new
- Getting back to work after injuryopen_in_new