Return to Work Assignment: Disability Management and Employee Support

This report examines a return-to-work plan for XYZ Enterprises, an environmental services company with diverse employee roles. The assignment analyzes the company's current safety policies, compliance with relevant legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Work Injury Benefits Act, and identifies areas for improvement, particularly in the return-to-work process. The report then delves into disability management, evaluating the company's climate, prevention focus, early intervention strategies, return-to-work case management, and claims monitoring. A specific return-to-work plan is developed for an employee, Anna, who is experiencing depression, outlining modification strategies, stakeholder roles, barriers, and risk factors. Finally, the report emphasizes the legal responsibilities of employers in facilitating a smooth return to work and the benefits for both the employee and the company, with a focus on safety and positive employee experience. The report references key research papers and acts as a guide for employers.

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Occupational Health and Safety
Name
Institution of Affiliation

Occupational Health and Safety
Introduction
Summary of the Company
XYZ enterprises is a company that specializes in providing environmental services. It
possesses offices throughout Canada and has around 2500 employed staff partaking several
roles which include:
 Field positions- this role involves driving in all manner of roads and weather, record
keeping and running of equipment’s.
 Laboratory positions- in this role employees work in a chemical laboratory where they
use equipment’s and chemicals to test samples.
 Office position- here the auxiliary staff and customer service personnel work with
electronic devices such as phones and computers.
Employee’s conditions and laws applying to these situations
There are safety policies and work instructions that embrace every safety-sensitive
procedure in the company and the workforce is properly trained on these procedures during
the weekly meetings. This is according to the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 which
requires the company to ensure that training, information and supervision is provided to
workers to safeguard their safety and health at work (Coulson, 2018).
In this company, all the safety guidelines are very significant. Any injured staff is
taken to the medical facility immediately after the incident and the report is submitted to the
Workers Compensation Board. This is per the work Injury Benefits Act, 2007 which requires
the company to provide the employer report of injury in a time limit of 72 hours after
learning about the injury of the employee (Bonaccio et al., 2019).
The return to work process in this company after an employee has been injured is not
clear on who should undertake it and this brings a lot of misunderstanding on allocation of
modified duties. This situation is against the Accidents Compensation Act 1985 which

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demands the company to assist a worker return to their modified duties as soon as they can
and appoint a return to work facilitator who will manage the return to work process (Drake et
al., 2017)
Part 2
Disability Management
Category
1. People-focused climate
- Organization is present. The XYZ Company possesses work guidelines and safety policies
that encompass every safety-sensitive measure in the company.
-Employees is present. The workers are skilled in safety measures and policies when they
join the company.
-Education/intervention is not present. This can be implemented by assigning rights and
responsibilities to the relevant stakeholders to improve the process. This will bring a positive
outcome as each stakeholder will fully carry out their responsibilities.
2. Prevention focus
-Organization is present. The XYZ Company conducts audits on safety annually which gives
updated information on the safety practices. The company's safety director discloses the
statistics of the company on safety matters and the award that has been received if any.
-Employee is not present.
This should be implemented by holding any employee-centered acts is geared towards safety
contests and awards as a cultural practice requirement in this field. The employees will then
fully participate in the safety improvement processes.
-Education/intervention is present. The workers have trained on the safety procedures and
policies updates through meetings that are held in the company every week.

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3. Early Intervention and Education
-Organization is not present. This should be implemented by training properly training the
supervisors to deal with the process. This will bring a positive outcome as there will be no
delays in the process.
-Employee is not present. This should be implemented by taking the necessary measures to
give the worker positive experience. The worker will experience an overall positive
experience in the process.
-Education/Intervention is not present. This is can be implemented by properly training the
supervisors on the process therefore the process will experience no delays.
4. Return to Work Case Management
-Organization is not present. This can be implemented by assigning duties and
responsibilities to improve the efficiency of the process.
-Employee is present. The injured employee is immediately taken to a medical facility and
the necessary paperwork is filled out.
-Education/Intervention is not present.
This should be implemented by taking proper measures to assign roles to relevant
stakeholders to make process more efficient.
5. Integrated Claims Monitoring and Management System
-Organization is not present. This can be implemented by assigning roles to relevant
stakeholders to avoid confusion and delays in the process.
-Employee is present. The case is immediately submitted to the workers' compensation board.
-Education/Intervention is not present. This can be implemented by doing analysis of data
system this will the give the worker a positive experience in the whole process.

Occupational Health and Safety
Part 3
Return to Work Plan
a. Anna is currently undergoing a mental health condition which is depression due to the
loss of her mother. The best modification strategies would be to assign her light-duty
work, supported and sheltered work plan.
b. The worker has a mental condition such as stress and depression and because of this,
she cannot be able to handle a lot of work. She, therefore, needs light duties as well as
a supported and sheltered work plan.
c. The stakeholders involved are:
1. Worker-She should make every effort to go back to work and perform the
modified work she is given and also make honest communication with employer
to help her consider the best modification for her mental health.
2. Human Resource Practitioner- He/she is needed to manage the whole coordination
process by communicating with the worker to establish a suitable plan for them
that is up to her capabilities.
3. Employer- The employers' responsibility is to ensure that the worker has been
provided with the necessary rehabilitation as part of her recovery to ease her
process of returning to work.
4. Health provider-Their role is to ensure that appropriate medical advice and
attention is given to the worker and the roles assigned to her fit her capabilities.
5. Supervisor-The role of the supervisor is to assist in the transitioning of the worker
back to the team and solve the challenges that have been identified.
d. The barriers to the return to work process are:

Occupational Health and Safety
 Stigma-To overcome this barrier the company should make sure there is effective
communication between the relevant stakeholders and seek opportunities where the
worker can best fit in.
 Physiological factors- To overcome this barrier the health providers should provide
the necessary medical advice and ensure that the roles allocated to the worker fit her
capabilities (MacEachen et al., 2020).
 Administrative- This barrier can be overcome by the company through training the
supervisors on the factors supporting the disability management programmed and
return to work process (Premji, 2014).
e. The risk factors in this return to work process include:
 Mental health condition of workers such as depression and stress (Cancelliere et al., 2
016).
 Poor attendance and performance record.
 Poor attitude of the worker towards returning to work.
 Lack of income during the bereavement leave (Neimeyer, 2019).
Part 4
Summary
Employers have a legal responsibility to help workers return to work with ease.
Returning to work is beneficial to the worker as it helps to reduce the emotional and financial
stress on the worker and their family (Pink et al., 2016). The company is required to provide
safety and health policies to its employees both the new and the current workers (Carson & A
bbott, 2012). Workers are encouraged to be actively involved in safety concerns and air their
concerns. Analysis of the system should be made regularly to ensure that workers have a
positive experience throughout the process (de Rijk et al., 2019).

Occupational Health and Safety
References
Bonaccio, S., Connelly, C., Gellatly, I., Jetha, A., & Martin Ginis, K. (2019). The Particip
ation of People with Disabilities in the Workplace Across the Employment Cycle:
Employer Concerns and Research Evidence. Journal Of Business And Psychology.
Cancelliere, C., Donovan, J., Stochkendahl, M., Biscardi, M., Ammendolia, C., Myburgh,
C., & Cassidy, J. (2016). Factors affecting return to work after injury or illness: be
st evidence synthesis of systematic reviews. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 2
4(1).
Carson, C., & Abbott, M. (2012). A review of productivity analysis of the New Zealand c
onstruction industry. Construction Economics And Building, 12(3), 1-15.
Coulson, N. (2018). The role of workplace health and safety representatives and the creep
ing responsibilisation of occupational health and safety on South African mines. R
esources Policy, 56, 38-48.
de Rijk, A., Amir, Z., Cohen, M., Furlan, T., Godderis, L., & Knezevic, B. et al. (2019).
The challenge of return to work in workers with cancer: employer priorities despit
e variation in social policies related to work and health. Journal Of Cancer
Drake, C., Haslam, R., & Haslam, C. (2017). Facilitators and barriers to the protection an
d promotion of the health and safety of older workers. Policy And Practice In Hea
lth And Safety, 15(1), 4-18.
MacEachen, E., McDonald, E., Neiterman, E., McKnight, E., Malachowski, C., & Crouc
h, M. et al. (2020). Return to Work for Mental Ill-Health: A Scoping Review Expl
oring the Impact and Role of Return-to-Work Coordinators. Journal Of Occupati
onal Rehabilitation.

Occupational Health and Safety
Neimeyer, R. (2019). Meaning reconstruction in bereavement: Development of a research
program. Death Studies, 43(2), 79-91.
Pink, S., Waterson, P., Dainty, A., Cheyne, A., Haslam, R., & Gibb, A. et al. (2016). Inter
disciplinary research for occupational safety and health knowledge. Policy And Pr
actice In Health And Safety, 14(1), 22-33.
Premji, S. (2014). Barriers to Return-to-Work for Linguistic Minorities in Ontario: An A
nalysis of Narratives from Appeal Decisions. Journal Of Occupational Rehabilita
tion, 25(2), 357-367.