Workplace assessment – it sounds a little intimidating. Let’s face it – no one likes being assessed, particularly when it comes to our jobs. But far from assessing your performance and achievements, a workplace assessment is all about assessing your capability to return to work after suffering an injury, accident or illness. There’s really no need for concern when it comes to a workplace assessment – and no, you can’t fail it! If you’ve experienced an injury or illness and are concerned about how you’ll manage your workload and tasks, you’ll need to undergo a workplace assessment. Here’s what it involves.
What exactly is a workplace assessment?
Following an accident or debilitating illness, you’ll need to be assessed as fit to return to your job. A workplace assessment procedure will determine your rehabilitation needs and provide recommendations to help you safely return to work after an accident, injury or long-term illness.
The assessment will cover:
- The cause and extent of your illness, condition or injury
- Your rehabilitation needs
- Any barriers preventing you from returning to work (physical, psychological, psychosocial or workplace barriers are all considered)
- The best course of action to return you to work as early, safely and sustainably as possible
Who will assess you?
This assessment process will be carried out by an allied health professional experienced in occupational rehabilitation practices, return to work requirements and compensation regulations. This is usually an occupational therapist or physiotherapist.
How will you be assessed?
There are a number of ways you’ll be assessed to determine your ability to return to your workplace or daily living activities, as this can be greatly affected by an injury, illness, disability or major life adjustment. Your workplace will also be assessed to determine the best way to modify work demands or the environment to facilitate a safe and sustainable return to work.
Assessing the individual
The assessment process will start with assessing your functional abilities following the incident that has affected your capacity. This is called an Initial Rehabilitation Needs Assessment (IRNA) and will solely focus on how your abilities have been affected by what happened to you. An occupational therapist or physiotherapist will ascertain your current functional capacity, both in your working role and in all aspects of your daily life. He or she will take into consideration your usual daily routine and activities, your environment, your interests, attitudes and relationships and will use this information to create a plan of support to help you manage your day-to-day and working life. Your assessor will take the time to thoroughly understand your individual needs. To help them get an accurate picture of your abilities, you may be asked to provide doctor, physiotherapist or psychologist reports.
Assessing the workplace
Your place of work will also be assessed to help identify the critical demands of your work tasks and the physical, environmental and ergonomic requirements of your job. Your assessor will be able to identify methods of temporarily or permanently modifying the environment you work in or the demands of your job while you recover. They will take into consideration your needs as well as the needs of your workplace and the business as a whole.
Your action plan
Once your individual and workplace assessments have been carried out, your expert assessor will assess your functional capacity compared to your work-related performance criteria. This will enable them to modify your work environment or the demands of your job so that you can safely return to work. The aim is always to modify either the task, the workload or the environment so that the impact of your disability is minimised, as well as enabling you to use the strengths and abilities you have.
Your assessor will provide practical recommendations that will be tailored to your individual workplace environment and needs. This may involve either temporary or permanent measures to help restore your functional tolerances in a graduated way, and to create an environment for you that is both safe and accessible.
Your return-to-work plan will cover:
- Equipment modification
- Workstation set-up
- Alternative equipment options
- A suitable duties program that details all the restrictions that will need to occur for you to undertake a graduated return to work
This assessment process will enable you to successfully return to work and your normal life as soon as is possible, so it’s wise to undertake the assessments as early as you can. Your occupational rehabilitation professional will support you every step of the way as you make the journey back to normality, in a way that works for both you and your employer.
Need to book an occupational rehabilitation assessment?
Contact the highly dedicated and experienced team of health professionals at Strive, where our industry-leading services will improve the health and wellbeing of both individuals and their organisation: https://striveor.com/contact/
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