In this case study, we track the progress of one worker with a chronic back problem from pre-injury, through struggles to remain productive in her job, to a new and satisfying career direction.

Mercedes is an assertive thirties-something woman living in a blended family in regional Victoria. Although reluctant to follow in her mum’s footsteps as a cleaner, she’d fallen into the job when in her early twenties. Over the years, a steady increase in Mercedes’ responsibilities at home had left little time to pursue other work interests.

When her chronic back problem developed, Mercedes was working for a local manufacturing company, cleaning the administrative offices. Her tasks included the usual dusting, sweeping, wiping, mopping and polishing; some of it fairly heavy-duty.

Most of Mercedes’ shifts began in the late afternoon, when the office staff had already gone home. In theory, she reported to the site manager, but a starting time of 5pm meant that communication on a routine basis was difficult. If Mercedes did want to discuss things with her manager, she had to make an appointment to do so, and her manager, Peter, had to stay beyond his normal work hours. Mercedes knew Peter had a young family.  He wanted to get home quickly after work to relieve his wife of family responsibilities, and Mercedes did not want to inconvenience him.

Mercedes’ first episode of back pain occurred while she was engaged in heavy-duty polishing. This task was part of regular maintenance involving a range of larger tasks. Such tasks were scheduled every six months during the school holidays when less staff were working, so that there was less interruption to the organisation’s workflow.

Initially, the pain lasted for just a few days. Mercedes, being relatively young, ignored the signs. It may be that the injury built up over a relatively long time as it can be difficult to discern the accumulating twinges. Mercedes didn’t report the injury to anyone at work because, thanks to her 5pm start, there was no-one to complain to.

Mercedes’ pain kept recurring, and each episode lasted for a longer time. Even when the problem hadn’t resolved itself within a few weeks, Mercedes played down the nagging pain she was feeling. It didn’t dawn on her that she should contact her doctor, even though her back pain was beginning to wake her at night.

Instead, Mercedes asked her friends for advice, and began a Pilates class at the local neighbourhood house. Rather than easing the pain, she began to experience greater hurt than ever before.

No one at work knew about Mercedes’ back pain until an ergonomics specialist was brought into the organisation to assess the safety of the workflow. Regular manual handling assessments were introduced for all staff. When this assessment was completed for Mercedes, she described her pain, and her back injury was brought to the attention of her boss.

Mercedes and Peter arranged to meet one night at the commencement of her shift. She described to him the pain she was experiencing, which by this stage had become constant. As a first step, Peter asked Mercedes to make an appointment to see her doctor. He also contacted the Return-To-Work Coordinator.

A WorkCover claim was submitted to enable Mercedes to follow a proper course of medical treatment until she was fit to resume work. However, Mercedes began to understand that her back injury would always be exacerbated by cleaning work. From a small hiccup, this incident had become life changing.

Mercedes worried about how she could continue to support herself and her family, since it had become obvious that she could not continue to work as a cleaner. She shared these worries with Peter, and together they came up with a plan.

As a mature person, Mercedes had good leadership and interpersonal skills and was able to plan and organise her work. Peter pointed out these skills to Mercedes, and asked her about her career aspirations. Mercedes told him that she had experienced difficulties as a teenager and wanted to use her experience to not only improve her own prospects, but to give a little back to the community who helped her when she was in need. A career change was definitely on the horizon and Peter was keen to help her make it happen.

Peter and Mercedes agreed that for twelve months, Mercedes would continue to be employed at the same time fraction as before, but would no longer perform the heavier tasks, such as polishing. Peter worked out how much time these tasks took to complete and hired a casual worker to complete them.

Mercedes was then given those hours off work and she used that time to retrain, completing a TAFE Certificate in youth work.

Mercedes’ back injury was irreparable, but she used it as an opportunity to move forward in her life. She took responsibility for her own future, via a partnership with her employer.

Peter, her boss, was open to the possibility of change on a broader scale, and the Return-To-Work Coordinator was a great resource person.

Workplace accommodation can indeed transform a dead end situation into a positive career change. And in hindsight, particular attention must be given to shift workers because things can fall through the cracks. These workers can sometimes be out of sight but also out of mind!

Learning from this case study:

1. Workers who take responsibility for their situation do best;
2. Managers and RTW Coordinators can help workers take responsibility for their situation, and see the possibilities in it;
3. Seemingly dead-end situations can be reframed as opportunities, given the right level of support; and
4. Shift workers may fall through the cracks and fail to report injuries, and thus miss out on early intervention.