Physical therapists who specialize in work injury management are well-equipped to partner with companies in helping improve the safety of the workforce, reduce injuries, and eliminate costs associated with workers’ compensation cases.
by George Jerome, with Larry Briand, MS, PT, ATC, and Emily Monson, PT
Ten years ago, while working for a previous employer, my worst fear came to pass when my phone rang in the middle of the night. I was an environmental, health and safety manager at the time, and that phone call confronted me with the very worst-case scenario in a workers’ comp case: a fatality. That event not only rattled my world, but the lives of every single person with whom I worked. An immediate call to action followed, with me advising the worker’s family of the news. The repercussions of that tragic event were pivotal not only to my own life, but to the life of a business I would one day start up. As a business owner myself, every new hire who walks through my doors is told that no job duty they are to perform is worth compromising their well-being. Those words have resonated in my mind every day since I opened the business, and I was determined to find a way to ensure that I could back up that sentiment.
Since the new company was not located in a large metropolitan area, many individuals in the local labor pool tended to move from employer to employer. Consequently, word of mouth can spread quickly throughout the community. With this in mind, I resolved to have every employee—past, present, and future—know they are working in a place where they will be provided with a safe work environment.
Worker Safety Is Good Business
Employers globally are concluding that it is impossible to sustain the lost days-on-the-job that injuries produce. The associated medical and indemnity costs alone are enormous. In my own case, I resolved to seek partners to improve the safety of my workforce, reduce injuries, and eliminate costs. Physical therapists who specialize in work injury management are well-equipped to be that partner. Physical therapists using an efficient process for performing job analysis, designing/delivering job-specific functional testing, and identifying specific work accommodations was the clear answer. They also hold the key of success for developing a new revenue stream for their practices, enhance their clinical outcomes, and increase referrals from employers. A job matching program can provide physical therapists the information and tools they need to engage in this role.
Early intervention treatment partnership with a physical therapist literally has changed the way I do business. Partnering with a work injury management physical therapist has made my life a lot easier, as I am truly able to care for my employees in an improved and more efficient manner. One of the areas of greatest emphasis for this conglomerate is to ensure there is no reason to wait until a recordable injury occurs to take action. We, as owners and managers, simply have to open the lines of communication and get staff to talk to us, and much of that responsibility falls on the employer.
If a staff member drags himself in on a Monday morning limping, the odds of that same person becoming further injured is greatly compounded. By facilitating lines of communication, it opens doors to not only access early intervention treatment, but to truly show employees that you care about them. With a physical therapist on site communicating with staff members about concerns that could create possible injury, those lines of communication will open even further. It is key to involve a supervisory team to truly embrace the importance of early intervention as they work closely with physical therapists and team members.
Supervisors: Watchdogs of Workplace Safety
Supervisors are those in a company best positioned to see daily tasks, and can better identify potential problems. With the aid of educational safety talks and instruction from the clinical perspective of a therapist, this objective will move along smoothly. In the identification process, we can determine whether it is possible to potentially transfer a staff member who could be at risk of injuring himself to a different location with different job duties, where their likelihood of injury significantly decreases. By doing so, an employer understands that action may ultimately divert an incident. The staff member now can feel their symptoms dissipate and the large costs often associated with a workers’ compensation case are avoided. Supervisors should be challenged to not focus solely on production but to also focus on safety and maintaining safe working environments. By equipping employee teams with an understanding of safe working practices and the protection against injury that physical therapists can provide, employers implement a culture of well-being in the workplace.
A Company Transformed
One of the many solid benefits of a dedicated partnership with an injury-prevention physical therapist is a true “checks and balances” prospective. By coming on-site and observing each and every employee, an opportunity is created to evaluate possible triggers for injury. Identifying probable accidents that could occur is the main objective in keeping workers healthy and safe. Having an on-site physical therapist has proven to be key in meeting this goal. This is a true benefit from a relationship with physical therapists that adds safety measures an employer’s eye cannot always capture.
In my years of experience, I’ve noted that after I walk by someone several times, my eyes see what they want to see. In contrast, an on-site physical therapist can objectively observe “what is.” It is the physical therapist’s objective to seek out potential problems and then rehabilitate that cause, whether by adding more stretching activities or suggesting an overall plan of care for an injured worker.
Many positive changes have occurred at this company after establishing a relationship with physical therapists. For one thing, the company culture has transformed into one of caring and family by working together to increase overall safety. Also, the employees are communicating more about well-being and voicing potential problems so that we, as employers, could meet their safety needs by referring them to the physical therapy clinic for triage before an injury occurs. Furthermore, a significant increase occurred in program resources, such as early intervention management and recommendations about how to make changes to equipment or ergonomics. Additionally, the company’s staff members are being educated about safety from professionals who can provide perspective about well-being as actual healthcare workers rather than lay people.
The on-site physical therapists evaluate pain levels, get to the root of the problem, and suggest treatment options—whether by them or a physician. They provide employees with lifting mechanics as well as job descriptions that place employees at positions for which they are best suited. There is a heightened awareness throughout the company about the proper technicalities needed to provide a safe and healthy community for staff members to grow and flourish on their career path.
Cost-Effectiveness
Cost reduction improved significantly after our partnership with physical therapists began. Last year, the company’s workers’ compensation costs were only $50,000, which is remarkable for a company that employs 750 staff members. The company’s OSHA recordable rates decreased from being in the 7s to the 1s and lower. The bottom line is this: we saw enormous injury reduction after being provided with the appropriate tools and equipment after our conglomeration.
This safe and healthy work environment has been the by-product of the workplace safety expertise introduced through work injury management and prevention programs. Physical therapists have been key in this accomplishment, and have provided the tools to create not only a philosophy for how to conduct business, but assurance that a work environment has been created in which there is a serious commitment to taking measures that will avoid costs and lost days associated with workers’ comp claims. In providing staff with a sense of safety, there is every reason to anticipate a significant return on investment among the employees, who seem confident that they are working in an environment where a commitment to cutting-edge safety is in force. RM
Larry Briand, MS, PT, ATC, owns and operates a network of physical and occupational therapy clinics nationwide, including Clear Lake Physical Therapy and Rehab Specialists, and is the founder and chief executive officer of Rehab Management Solutions, Mt. Pleasant, Wis. Briand is chief visionary officer of RMS’ Work Injury Program Initiative.
Emily Monson, PT, is the owner and director of Clear Lake Physical Therapy and Rehab Specialists, Clear Lake and Turtle Lake, Wis. She is also the co-developer and clinical instructor of Rehab Management Solutions’ Work Injury Program Initiative.
George Jerome, is the environmental health and safety manager at Rice Lake Weighing System in Rice Lake, Wis. For more information, contact [email protected].
