Process perfection through a person-centred approach
Take a person-centred approach by working in collaboration with your injured worker and placing them front and centre of their recovery and return to work. Australian-owned civil construction company SEE Civil made changes to reach industry best practice, reducing injury rates by 66 per cent, claim costs by 94 per cent and achieving a workers’ compensation premium rate of half the industry rate.
Best practice
Take a person-centred approach by working in collaboration with your injured worker and placing them front and centre of their recovery and return to work.
Why this is important
It pays to care - you can reduce your business’s injury and claim rates, reduce your workers’ compensation premium and improve your workplace culture.
Australian-owned civil construction company SEE Civil did it by participating in the Injury Prevention and Management (IPaM) program.
What action did SEE Civil take
After evaluating gaps in their safety and return to work systems and consulting with its workforce, SEE Civil made changes to reach industry best practice by:
- embedding return-to-work processes as part of their safety management system
- demonstrating leadership commitment to safety and wellbeing through additional resourcing and trained Rehabilitation and return to work coordinators across the business
- consulting and collaborating with a wide cross section of their workforce on the development of their Return to Work: Recover at Work procedure, to make sure the procedures worked for all sites and working conditions
- implementing an injury information pack including job task analysis and descriptions to inform suitable duties and support return to work certification by medical practitioners.
SEE Civil realised a strong return on investment for their efforts, reducing injury rates by 66 per cent, claim costs by 94 per cent and achieving a workers’ compensation premium rate of half the industry rate. The total tangible savings are around $150,000 per year, plus benefits to their organisational culture and safety climate.
Your toolkit
As an employer you can:
- Foster a strong safety culture by demonstrating a commitment to safety and wellbeing.
- Undertake your own gap analysis using the WorkSafe Queensland Safety Fundamentals Toolkit or register for the Injury Prevention and Management (IPaM) program.
- Consult and collaborate with your workforce to develop policies and procedures that are meaningful and work for your business.
- Make the business case for change and calculate your return on investment on the benefits of an early return to work and training key staff.
- Review your safety capability, leadership and culture annually as part of a holistic, systems approach to safety and wellbeing.
- Learn more about how to take a person-centred approach, which prioritises an injured worker’s needs and concerns, identifies potential barriers to recovery and finds solutions that meet the needs of a worker and their organisation.