Integrating sports medicine principles into the management and prevention of workplace injury was the key to Rankin Occupational Safety and Health (ROSH) winning the service provider achievement award at the South Australian WorkCover Recovery and Return to Work Awards earlier this month.

The ROSH system utilises an elite sports model of injury management for workplaces, with a primary focus on injury prevention, immediate management of symptoms and returning workers to their job as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Created by physiotherapist Dr David Worth, the ROSH system has been in development since the early1990s. It has been delivered for the past five years in its present form by the ROSH team of industrial physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists.

Dr Worth spoke to Return to Work Matters about the concept behind the ROSH model.

Integral to the success of the program, he says, is the provision of an onsite physiotherapist who has a thorough knowledge of the client company’s workplace, duties and the workers. This physiotherapist will spend between two and five sessions each week at the worksite, depending on the requirements of the company.

“The physiotherapist develops a relationship with the workforce – that’s the workers, including the team leaders, supervisors and leading hands,” Dr Worth said.

It is this relationship which allows the physiotherapist to provide effective assistance and triage the needs of a worker immediately a work injury arises.

“The physiotherapist will make a working diagnosis of the client’s condition and will then determine whether the person is able to stay at work...or if the client needs to be referred to a doctor or an emergency department,” Dr Worth said.

“We find that the physio is the best person for the role, in the same way they would do exactly the same thing if they’re a physio for an elite sports team.”

Like an elite sports team, the needs of each company are assessed on an individual basis. At the commencement of the program, the ROSH therapist will visit the company and undertake a detailed assessment of each of the company’s worksites, including the working environment, the number of shifts and the number of workers on staff, and the general risk category of the work being undertaken. From this information, it is then decided how often the physiotherapist is required onsite.

At the introduction of the program, the physiotherapist will also visit and assess the worksite to create the ROSH Occupational Dictionary. A cornerstone of the ROSH program, each workplace is provided with its own unique dictionary, which contains the Job Safety Assessment and ergonomic reviews of new and existing jobs by the ROSH consultant. Primary prevention is emphasised and achieved by recognising and rating hazards and risks and recommending controls for these risks.

The dictionary is a key tool in the prevention of injury as it is used to determine which jobs will be suitable for individual workers, either with or without an injury. It is also used to guide recruitment and training needs.

Dr Worth said the companies who utilised the ROSH program did so because it was proven in assisting workers to return to their job as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“In most cases when were dealing with people, we find that there’s almost no need for a claim,” he said.

“In other words they’re managed in-house so quickly and efficiently that before the time (for a claim) arises they can already do their job or some other work.”