People don’t plan to get injured at work, but it’s an unfortunate reality that thousands of South Africans will be injured at work each year. Physiotherapy @ Work aims to manage a balanced system, one in which all stakeholders are equally considered; whereby the client is effectively and efficiently rehabilitated and returned to appropriate and safe work.
Workplace Wellbeing & Corporate Physiotherapy
Providing workplace ergonomic assessments, physiotherapy treatments, and education. Research suggests there are numerous benefits implementing wellness programs in the workplace, some which include:
- Decrease injury rates
- Increase productivity
- Decrease absenteeism
- Decrease healthcare costs to the employer
- Improve employer-employee relationships
Investing in an employee’s health makes great sense not only from a wellbeing perspective but also from a business perspective.
The greatest asset to your company is your people, so improving their health and wellbeing will ultimately have a positive effect on their productivity and their accountability while they are at work.
Why is corporate wellness important?
Corporate wellness should be integral of any business structure. With the overall aim of keeping your most important assets functioning well, its people.
Research has shown that a continual high performance in a corporate world requires a good physical health and wellbeing. Pain, Illness and injury of any kind will affect your team’s ability to do their job.
Early intervention by our onsite physiotherapists will result in a faster recovery, keep employees at work longer and improve their productivity.
The importance of return to work after injury
There is compelling evidence that work plays a vital role in our physical and mental health. A workplace injury can have a significant impact on an injured worker, their family, colleagues and friends. People’s jobs are a big part of who they are and returning to work is an important part of their recovery. Injured workers can recover faster by returning to their usual activities and work sooner rather than later. The sooner an injured worker returns to work, the better their rehabilitation outcome will be. Staying at work or returning to work is not only a crucial part of an injured worker’s rehabilitation but is also better for an employer’s business. By assisting an injured worker to remain at work, it will not only reduce the financial and emotional impact on the worker and their family, but will also assist the employer by increasing productivity and minimising the cost to the employer.
There is evidence that psychosocial factors such as workers’ fears and beliefs about their conditions and the impact of re-entry to the work place on their health, together with self-responsibility and self-care principles, are critical domains that need to be included in rehabilitation approaches. A positive approach, and the right support, allows for the majority of injured workers to recover and remain or return to work. A positive worker attitude, reinforced by support from the employer, family and friends, is one of the most significant contributing factors to a successful return to work.
There is also evidence that communication, cooperation and establishing common agreed goals between the injured worker, health providers, supervisors and management is critical for improvement in both clinical and occupational outcomes.
A proactive rather than a reactive approach to workplace injuries, using preventative management methods, should be adopted by every employer. A workplace that is proactive in preventing injury, makes use of early intervention when injuries occur, and has the appropriate policies, processes and documentation in place supports effective return to work for their employees.
How we can help:
- On site client risk assessments / screening
- Injury prevention education / training
- Health and wellness promotion
- Ergonomic assessments and correction
Injury on Duty / Return to Work management through:
- Appropriate client assessment as soon as possible post-incident.
- Appropriate client treatment and rehabilitation management as indicated.
- Appropriate referral to multidisciplinary team.
- Assessing and certifying a client’s capacity / capability to work and then establish a process to enable the worker to undertake as much of their usual activity / work as possible.
- Effective management of barriers / facilitators of return to work.
- Engaging the employer in returning the client to a safe and suitable work activity, taking into consideration expected healing times of injury.
- Organise appropriate review dates for each client.
Please contact us at info@hnaphysiotherapy.co.za or 087 236 6518 to enquire about our range of Physiotherapy @ Work services
