1) The early bird gets the work (the return to work). Early intervention is underrated, yet prolonged and unnecessary work absence can cause needless and significant harm to the wellbeing of the injured employee. The odds of an injured worker returning to full employment drops to 50% after just six months of absence. Worse still, the odds of a worker ever returning to work drops to 50% by the third month.

2) Employers have a powerful role to play. While it’s easy to feel as if you’re but a tumbleweed in the workers’ compensation storm, as an employer you can have a great influence on the prevention of return to work problems, and the smooth recuperation of your employee. Your ability to inform the injured worker about their roles and responsibilities in return to work, and to offer your support, can have a dramatic impact on that person’s willingness to return and succeed.

3)The biggest problem is the process. The fundamental reason for most medically-related lost work days and lost jobs is not the injury itself, or a medical necessity to be out of work, but the poor functioning of return to work processes. The answer? Improve your systems, and lobby for the improvement of systems outside your control.

4) A problem left is a problem doubled. The longer the absence from work the increased chance of losing social relationships with coworkers, the self-respect that comes from engaging in work, and a major component of identity – what we do for a crust.

5) The issues are human issues. Employers and insurers often forget that an injury can be a scary thing – people fear surgery, the unknown, being out of work, feeling incapacitated and dealing with unfamiliar compensation systems. When employees are informed and educated about how to deal with “the system”, what to expect from it and what is expected of them in helping their own recovery, results are likely to be much better.

6) Flexibility brings with it positivity. Allowing workers to recover on the job, by offering reduced hours or modified duties while the injured employee is rehabilitating, is a cornerstone of disability and return to work prevention. Whatever allows workers to return to work at partial capacity while they recuperate is of benefit to both them and the employer/workplace. Remember, though, that modified duties plans require an aim to work upwards so that people don’t remain working under capacity for longer than necessary.

7) Workers’ compensation brings poorer outcomes. Several studies have shown that patients in receipt of workers’ compensation have poorer health outcomes. The slow nature of the system means that people are often out of work longer than they need to be. The lesson? Have effective injury prevention processes in place so that injuries are avoided, and then effective return to work processes in place so that if an injury still occurs, processes within the workplace don’t further slow things.

8) Return to work is serious business. Poor return to work processes create poor outcomes. Being out of work is damaging. Work incapacity and job loss are associated with higher incidence of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and poor self-esteem, as well as a greater risk of physical illness and raised incidence of mortality.