Workplace Injuries: Reasons Returning to Work Sooner is Beneficial

It is understandable that anyone who has suffered a workplace injury may well be reticent to return to their job too quickly after the incident.

Being in the very environment and potentially facing the same situation that created the injury in the first place can be stressful and demanding to deal with and suffering a work accident injury is always going to leave some sort of mental scar that you will have to contend with.

Despite these obvious issues and concerns, there are, in fact, some valid reasons why returning to work as soon as it is possible to do so after workplace injuries might actually prove beneficial in a number of ways.

Act fast

There is plenty of information available to suggest that injury outcomes can be heavily influenced by how rapidly and accurately they are assessed shortly after the incident.

Obvious injuries like lacerations and fractures are easily identified and can be dealt with effectively because of this, but some injuries can appear to be minor at the onset when the muscles are still warm, only to reveal more complications a short time afterwards.

The key to a more rapid recovery is often to arrange a detailed first consultation which includes a history of the mechanism of the injury and a note of all the contributing factors.

By acting fast and carrying out a detailed initial assessment of any workplace injury, this can help to ensure that the true extent of the injuries are correctly diagnosed and a recovery plan put into place, which can speed up the timeframe for returning to work.

Rehabilitation

The recovery period will of course vary according to the extent of the injury and how each person responds to the treatment they receive.

After the initial first aid response and any medical treatment needed is administered, there will follow a rehabilitation period, which is many ways just as important as the first few steps in getting someone on the road to recovery as effectively as possible.

It may well be that the worker is seen regularly by their medical practitioner or a healthcare professional may well be need to guide a person through the rehabilitation process.

Providing the right level of medical and emotional support needed will be critical in helping a worker recover as quickly and effectively as possible, so that they feel ready to face up to the challenge of returning to the workplace sooner than they might have expected.

Back to work

Returning back to work after sustaining an injury is often difficult to handle effectively from both the employer and employees perspective.

It would help if the employer has a documented return-to-work policy that can provide a framework of procedures and protocols to follow.

It also helps if the employee returns in a meaningful productive capacity and the focus is more on what they can do rather than what restrictions they might need to face.

The medical advice on what the workers capabilities and limitations are will clearly play a part in defining their new role when they return to work and it may be appropriate to consider some variable of changed work hours to make the return to work more manageable.

Workplace injuries are unfortunately commonplace, but how they are handled is a major factor in helping an employee sooner than anticipated, which can prove beneficial to their physical and mental recovery and wellbeing.

Paul Kendall works in public health and encounters plenty of workplace injuries. He likes to share his thoughts and insights with an online audience and writes regularly for a number of industry websites.