A tribunal full bench has quashed a finding that an injured worker's purported disciplinary issues and poor attendance record should not be taken into account when deciding whether to provide him with suitable employment.
Guided problem-solving meetings between workers with common mental disorders and their managers can reverse any "mismatch" with the work environment, significantly reducing sick leave and improving return-to-work times, Swedish researchers have found.
The step-downs provisions of Australian workers' comp schemes are touted as a return-to-work incentives, but have been marginally successful at best, and can lead to self-sabotaging decisions by injured workers, public health experts have found.
A worker's successful claim that her psych injury arose from being treated unreasonably by management, after she was transferred to a worksite she didn't want to go to, has been overturned on appeal.
Employers have been urged to consider workplace interventions to improve the health of workers with prescription opioid use disorder, who require significantly more sick leave than those with other types of injuries and illnesses.
A short and "low-intensity" counselling technique has helped workers on long-term sick leave overcome a range of psychological barriers to returning to work, researchers say.
Psychosocial factors impede workers' recovery from musculoskeletal injuries, but disability screening tools can be used in novel ways to identify and match treatments and avoid unnecessary surgery or other procedures, a workplace physiotherapist says.
A return-to-work specialist has urged stakeholders to "think outside the square" and adopt innovative interventions to fill the service gap for workers with complex and chronic psychological injuries requiring long periods off work.
Mental health conditions remain a key "disruptor" in Australia's workers' comp schemes, but a low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy program and early intervention are facilitating recovery, Comcare's CEO has told the National Workers' Compensation Summit.
