We often talk about early contact with injured workers as a key ingredient in successful return to work outcomes. However, there are many people involved in return to work and early contact may mean different things to different people. 

For example, a decade ago contacting the injured worker three weeks after their injury was considered to be early intervention. Nowadays, day one contact is more likely to be considered early intervention. And some people propose early intervention means a system is set up in advance of the injury; a system that ensures everyone understands what needs to be done, and their roles and responsibilities.

Sweden does not have a worker’s compensation system as such; work-related or non work-related health issues are dealt with under a similar system. However, they still have the same challenges regarding helping people back to work.

Swedish researchers asked people involved in return to work for their thoughts on early intervention. They talked to people who were going back to work after an injury, supervisors in the workplace, co-workers, and other people involved in the return to work system, such as human resources staff. 

The researchers interviewed 33 people across three companies and also examined workplace policies on return to work.

They found that:

• Early contact had different meanings and different outcomes for different people;
• Not all workers appreciated early contact; and
• In-house incentives impacted the tone and content of early contact conversations.

The researchers found that there were various incentives for the people charged with making contact with injured employees. The incentive might be to comply with the employer’s process, or it might be to work with the injured worker and support them.

The early contact might take into account the worker’s sensitivity, but it also might not. 

For example, if an organisation has lost time injuries (LTIs) as a key measure for supervisors, early contact may be more about ensuring that the worker comes back to work so that company statistics are not mucked up, than about expressing concern for the worker’s wellbeing.

These incentives will flavour the interaction between supervisor and worker. The notion of reducing lost time is sensible, however this can unintentionally result in the worker feeling that their wellbeing is not the reason for contact. This might then reduce their motivation to return to work. 

The researchers point out that early contact in itself does not necessarily make a positive difference. Like so many other things, it boils down to not so much what you do but how you do it. The research highlights that early contact considered as helpful to the employee can promote return to work, but contact completed to tick boxes as part of a process can be unhelpful.