Permanent Restrictions - the ultimate challenge

Cartoon Source:  Safety.BLR.com

SCENARIO:  As an employer, you've been cooperating with providing modified duty within the injured employee's work restrictions.  Despite the challenges, you've made it work.  And then you receive notice that the injured employee's work restrictions are permanent.  What is a mason who cannot lift cinder blocks all day going to do?  What could a dietary aide worker do who cannot feed patients possibly do?  How about the delivery truck driver who has never done anything but deliver auto parts?

Consider the following ideas as options to resolving your most challenging RTW opportunities:

Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE)
These tests assess an injured employee's ability to return to work as well as their tolerance to certain activities.  They are often more descriptive than a physician's return to work recommendation form and can serve as a good starting point for what types of work activities the injured employee can perform.

Job training/retraining/cross training
Consider the injured employee's work history and determine if there are any skills or areas of expertise that could be applied elsewhere in your organization.  Also, consider jobs that fit within the restrictions and determine if the injured employee has any interest in learning to perform another position.  We've seen significant successes with CNAs who learn to work in the office or reception area.  Recently we had an employer offer to hire an injured dietary aide worker as a clerical employee working in the dietary/nutritional department of the employer's long term care facility.  Ask the injured employee where they seem themselves being able to work in they company.

Consider flexible scheduling or working from home
While this may not be a great fit for every employee, consider telecommuting or working from home as an option.  Reduced hours are preferable to not being able to offer any type of work.  In many jurisdictions, the employee would still be entitled to a percentage of the gap between pre-injury wages and modified duty wages, but the claim exposure is reduced significantly.

Vocational rehabilitation
Vocational rehabilitation benefits vary from state to state, however consider getting a vocational counselor to interview the employee to see what vocational skills the injured employee may possess that could be utilized in your organization. 

Think outside of the box -- ask others
Talk to employers who have had similar experiences.  Chat with your Eastern Risk Management Consultant.  Sometimes the answers are right in front of us, but it takes a conversation and a change in perspective to see them.  Consider turning a tragedy into an opportunity.  We've heard of employers transitioning their severely injured employees to a safety/risk management position where they serve as safety educators, speaking to groups about their experiences as an injured employee.