TIP OF THE WEEK

 

                                                                    April 18, 2008

 

Did you know...?        

 

Extended work hours should factor in to return to job after injury.

 

New research suggests that rehabilitation specialists treating and guiding injured workers back to full-time employment should factor unconventional work schedules into their assessments and planning. 

 

Workers who are injured on the job have a harder time returning to employment if their schedules routinely require them to work extended hours, according to an Ohio State University study.  Those who work more than 12 hours per day or 60 hours per week in particular are at the highest risk of losing their jobs when compared to injured workers returning to jobs with conventional eight-hour day shifts and 40-hour work weeks.

 

The study found that extended-hour employees are 70% more likely to quit, and 81% more likely to be fired than their counterparts returning to jobs with conventional schedules.  The study also showed that injured workers in nonstandard schedules were considerably more likely to return to work at less than full-time capacity than workers with conventional work schedules.

Current rehabilitation efforts tend to emphasize the ability of returning workers to perform tasks associated with their jobs, but not when or how long recovering employees will work each day.  The study findings point to a need for rehabilitation specialists to tailor their return-to-work plans to individual employees' schedules.  Rehabilitation specialists also could design a phased return to a long-hour work schedule to avoid re-injury or the inability to meet employment demands.

 

Previous studies have demonstrated that employees working nonstandard shifts are already at higher risk for suffering an occupational injury or illness – the most common injuries are musculoskeletal conditions and cuts, bruises and fractures – making rehabilitative efforts associated with their return to work even more important.

 

To read more about the study, point your browser to:  http://www.physorg.com/news119716318.html.

 

 

*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*


To learn more about services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com.  You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.

 

Why choose us?  Because OHS-COMPCARE provides superior communication including physician callbacks, web access to provider dictation, and electronic reporting of RTW status.

 

OHS-COMPCARE has eight (8) area clinical facilities:

Blue Springs Clinical Facility

Independence Clinical Facility

Johnson County Clinical Facility

St. Joseph Clinical Facility

801 NW St. Mary’s Drive

19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200

10415 Lackman Road

904 Edmond Street

Blue Springs, MO 64104

Independence, MO 64055

Lenexa, KS 66219

St. Joseph, MO 64501

816-224-9121

816-478-9299

913-495-9905

816-233-7702

 

After Hours Available

 

 

 

 

 

 

KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility

KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility

Wyandotte County Clinical Facility

Grandview Clinical Facility

1650 Broadway

6501 East Commerce, Suite 110

1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200

13830 S Us Highway 71

Kansas City, MO 64108

Kansas City, MO 64120

Kansas City, KS  66102

Grandview, MO 64030

816-842-2020

816-483-5550

913-596-2774

816-761-4664