December

Light Duty for the Injured Worker

Some Benefits of a Light Duty Program

Accidents happen in the workplace, and some of them require the injured employee to return to the work force with some restrictions. When this happens, the employer must provide work for the employee that is within the worker’s ability and does not aggravate the injury/illness or cause re-injury.

Reasons why a Light Duty Program is beneficial:

• Employee:
  • Light duty helps your employee stay engaged while recovering from their injury.
  • They stay in the routine of working, and they feel productive.
  • They maintain workplace relationships.
  • May shorten recovery time.
• Employer:
  • The longer an injured employee is off work due to an on-the-job injury, the less likely it is that they will return to work.
  • Employers maintain productivity in the workplace with completion of work by the injured employee.
  • Retain trained workforce and reduce turnover.
  • Your company will benefit from returning your employee to work as it will reduce the cost of the Workers’ Compensation claim for you and for your fellow WCTI members if you are in Shared Claims.
  • As a WCTI Member, you committed to providing light duty work as a requirement of membership in the program.

Light Duty Considerations

The type of work assignments for a returning injured employee must be medically appropriate related to their identified restrictions. Complete evaluations of the proposed assignments with respect to the imposed restrictions. Consider the physical body position of the employee (bending, standing, sitting, repetitive motions) as well as weights of objects lifted, pushed, pulled, or moved, the employee would be exposed to during the completion of the potential assignments.

Employers must monitor employees on restricted duty to ensure that they are not exceeding the medical restrictions. Check on the employee regularly to identify if they are experiencing any pain or discomfort related to performing the assignment. Employees may overdo it, or ignore weight restrictions trying to complete these tasks, which could result in aggravating the injury.

Planning for Light Duty Work is Paramount

As an employer, you need to be aware of injured worker’s status before they return to work. Identify the date they will return and the employee restrictions. For the identified restrictions, evaluate potential job assignments for the employee to determine if they are appropriate for them to accomplish, or if modifications are required to accommodate the restriction.

Consider the following related to light duty jobs:

• Job Descriptions:
  • Look at the job descriptions for all jobs in the facility, including the job the employee currently has, to determine if completion of all, or certain parts of the job procedures are safely within the restrictions.
  • While there might be weight capacities for the entire job description, determine if the employee restrictions allow completion of some of steps of the job process.
• Identify as many potential light duty tasks as possible at your facility and document them, so if presented with an injured employee returning with restrictions, you will then have a list of potential assignments that someone with restrictions would be able to accomplish.
  • Some of the restrictions that employees return with can be quite limiting, so having a list of potential tasks identified for them to do in advance for them to do is beneficial.
• Consider tasks that would not require physical exertion. Examples include:
  • Safety walkthroughs and inspections of both the plant and office areas of the facility.
  • Inventories of stored items throughout the facility or cycle counts.
  • Assisting with the documentation of job descriptions by observing and talking with other employees
  • Watch training videos to determine if appropriate and/or good video for company to use.
• Think outside the box!

Communication is Important

Communication at all steps of the process ensures that the employee and employer are safely handling the work restrictions.

• Ensure that employees and managers are aware of and agree to your Return to Work policy.
• Communicate any changes in restrictions from the Doctor as soon as possible.
• Any pain or discomfort felt by the employee should be reported to supervision.
• Conduct periodic meetings with injured employee and supervisor(s) to report on status.