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Return to Work Programming

Workers returning from an injury are more than three times more likely to (re)injure themselves than uninjured workers. So it’s critical that employers enact programming to ensure workers returning to the job from an injury or extended absence do so safely.

WorkSTEPS offers diverse programming specifically designed to objectively determine what an injured or impaired worker is capable of safely doing, and when he/she is safe to return to “full duty.”

WorkSTEPS Functional Fit for Duty testing safely and objectively determines if an employee returning to work post-injury can still safely perform the essential functions of the job. Because treating physicians rarely measure functional performance as part of a rehabilitation and treatment process, it’s imperative that employers ensure that an employee has not deconditioned during their absence and recovery and are still able to safely perform the essential functions of the job.  

Employees seeking a more individualized and data-driven programming should consider WorkSTEPS Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) to help inform return-to-work and rehabilitation decisions. FCEs are full-body comprehensive medical tests used to measure an employee’s functional capacity and assist in injury management, whether the injury was sustained while at work or existed previously.

One FCE should be given at the time of injury to determine severity and legitimacy for optimum injury management. Another FCE should be administered during rehabilitation to determine progress. A final FCE should be conducted post-rehabilitation to determine the employee’s ability to return to his or her job. At the time of injury, when compared against data previously collected, the FCE may be used to prove consistency and validity of performance and create realistic, objective rehabilitation goals, return to work recommendations, or work conditioning programs. This information is valuable in objectively moving the patient through the system in a fair and timely manner.

For positions that have regulatory requirements, Occupational Medical Exams cover a wide range of medical services which may be required or recommended to get someone back to work, such as CDL exams for commercial drivers or fit testing for someone using a new respirator model.  

Injury Triage & Medical Case Management work together to ensure, firstly, that employee injuries are handled appropriately from the start and, secondly, that claims are managed quickly and efficiently with effective medical care and loss control in mind. Our expert clinical claims managers ensure that employees are safely returned to work as fast as possible.  

Detailed, up-to-date data identifying the physical demands, regulatory requirements, and all other job components associated with your jobs stored in WorkSTEPS EHS DataHub empower employers to make informed decisions about when an employee is safe to return to work, or what meaningful contributions an employee can make when placed on modified duty. WorkSTEPS EHS DataHub brings together the talent of rehabilitation, health & safety, and information technology professionals to make invaluable health and safety information available at the click of a mouse. Paired with our work capacity assessment services, WorkSTEPS EHS DataHub makes it easy to match a worker’s abilities to job requirements.

Top-tier companies create their occupational health programs with WorkSTEPS
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