What Is Workplace Rehabilitation?

Workplace rehabilitation is a procedure designed to provide guidance and support to injured employees and facilitate a safe and timely recovery and subsequent return to work. The process aims to minimise staff downtime by ensuring the earliest possible return to work and finding alternative ways to which a worker can remain valuable.

When workers are faced with challenges resuming the duties they performed before an injury, a suitable program is developed to help guide them in return to full capacity over a stipulated period of time.

The process is usually carried out on-site in the exact working environment and it involves the following:

• On-the-job assistance and training aimed at helping employees acquire new job skills.
• Identifying duties that will promote the recovery of an employee
• Assessing an employee’s ability to perform his/her tasks safely
• Identifying duties that will support improvements in a worker’s capacity
• Determining workplace problems can affect a worker’s ability to fully recover and return to his/her pre-injury duties.
• Identifying options to help reduce work demands
• Follow up programs to achieve set recovery times in line with a company’s objectives.

4 Benefits of Workplace Rehabilitation

The process is advantageous to both the employees and the employer.

1. Prevention of further injuries
2. The management is advised on suitable equipment and role modifications.
3. Employers can retain skilled workers
4. Minimized cost of productivity

Organisations must comply with the workplace standards set by the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation (2014).