Kevin Wilhelm, winner of WorkCover South Australia’s Recovery and Return to Work award for individual health and rehabilitation achievement, is a living embodiment of how good work is for you. Even his son wants to follow in his footsteps. And what Kevin wants for himself and his son, he wants for injured workers in South Australia’s south east.

A health and rehabilitation consultant dedicated to improving return to work outcomes in the South East, Kevin is Principal Consultant for Australian Workplace Injury Consultants. He set the business up eighteen months ago in Mount Gambier in an area of the state that has historically had a low success rate for workers returning to work. Kevin introduced a new approach involving early intervention, which has changed the culture, reduced the time that claims are open and helped workers successfully return to their pre-injury role with their employers.

Kevin and Australian Workplace Injury Consultants now have a stunning return-to-work rate of 92% where the industry rate is 70%. It is no surprise that the company is enjoying a high proportion of repeat business. The key, he says, is:

• Having a genuine commitment to working for both parties, including the employee and the employer;
• Being entirely open and honest;
• Providing unbiased information and advice to both parties including their obligations, benefits, the process and possible but realistic outcomes;
• Having a comprehensive knowledge of the South Australian Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986 and its regulations;
• Employing staff with a medical background even though it costs a little more; and
• Being based within the community that the company services.

When asked how small companies manage to provide different work duties for an injured worker, Kevin says he works with host employers. Charitable organisations like the Salvos or Lifeline generously provide other duties where it is impossible for small business. “Their ethos is in the right place”, Kevin says “and it provides an injured worker with an alternative to just sitting at home”.

Most employers try to take their workers back but this is sometimes impossible and it is mainly due to size.

The light comes on for injured workers when they realise that their employer values their contribution and actually want to have them back working in the company even if in another role. “Injured workers don’t understand their rights”, says Kevin “but when they understand that their job is safe, they can put their minds to the future and what opportunities may be available to them down the track”.

By and large, Adelaide-based rehabilitation companies are still servicing rural areas in South Australia even though it costs a lot more and adds minimal value to the local community. Kevin would like to see the day when local companies are contracted to provide services within their own local communities. He says “it would be easier if WorkCover and Employers Mutual (the state’s only insurer) came on board with the concept, potentially saving the state at least $1 million a year”. He’s confident that Australian Workplace Injury Consultants will do it anyway on his patch.

 “I love what I do,” says Kevin. “I enjoy going to work every day and I am just as passionate about worker safety and returning injured workers to work as I was the day I started nearly 20 years ago.”