The plight of workers injured or those who sustained diseases on duty may soon be eased with the proposed policy on their rehabilitation, reintegration and return to work, a meeting of the Board of the Compensation Fund heard in Pretoria yesterday.
The policy seeks to facilitate a comprehensive therapy that will prepare the worker physically and psychologically while also making the family to deal with his or her new impairment. Parallel with this, the fund will speak to the employer about accepting the worker in a different role coupled with the required support. Addressing a Board meeting which was attended by Labour Minister, Mildred Oliphant, the Commissioner of the Compensation Fund, Shadrack Mkhonto said an agreed rehabilitation plan was crucial, adding that the employer must take all reasonable steps to provide the worker with or arrange for suitable employment.
Mkhonto said the rationale for introducing a return to work (RTW) policy for the country lay in the fact that ‘injured or ill workers lose their jobs and end up depending on disability pensions.’
He said the objective of the RTW concept was to ‘ensure that workers go back to work at the earliest date following either injury or illness.’
Mkhonto said key principles behind the policy include that it:
- Is industry- based in that the employee’s workplace and specific duties are the primary focus of the planned return to work activities;
- Is function-oriented as it is aimed at minimising any disability rather than simply reducing the impairment;
- Involves early intervention;
- Provides for individual programmes tailored to the needs of injured employees; and
- Uses a multi-disciplinary team approach and involves shared responsibility.
Mkhonto said it was important for injured workers to ‘return to their normal life as quickly as possible. This should be done in a way that protects and promotes their health as we believe that early intervention helps early recovery.’
He said trade unions, government, employers, employees and service providers should realise that the RTW campaign is a shared responsibility meant to boost productivity.
He said early intervention was critical in order to prevent the escalation of the condition and to prevent the individual from being alienated from work. ‘We should know by now that early intervention prevents minor injuries or illnesses becoming serious chronic or disabling conditions.’
Mkhonto said an added bonus to the proposal was the appointment of a case manager who will keep close contact with the claimant and their family, the employer and the medical multidisciplinary team and the insurer as well as the compensation fund.
‘The policy is currently with the Minister to allow for stake-holder engagements’, Mkhonto said.
Enquiries:
Shadrack Mkhonto
Compensation Fund Commissioner
Cell: 082 568 3151
Source: Department of Labour
