Authors (including presenting author) :
Chau SL Stanley (1)(2), Wong YC June(2), Dr. So HP (1), Pang SH Kathy (1), Lam L Lenny (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Kowloon West Cluster Occupational Medicine Care Services, (2) Occupational Therapy Department, Princess Margaret Hospital
Introduction :
The ageing of working population has resulted in increasing numbers of staff in Injury on Duty (IOD) with prolonged sick leave (SL) in 2022. The high IOD rate and prolonged SL has adverse impact on the productivity of the organization. The Occupational Therapist of Occupational Medicine Care Services (OMCS) provides comprehensive Work Rehabilitation (WR) Services & Return to Work (RTW) program to the injured staff in Kowloon West Cluster (KWC) with new strategies of regular joint case meeting with supervisor, Occupational Safety & Health personnel & Human Resource department for prolonged SL staff, worksite visit with tailor made job modification & ergonomic advices, work trial program for injured staff during SL to facilitate early RTW.
Objectives :
RTW program aims at supporting injured staff with coordinated, well planned & comprehensive work rehabilitative strategies that facilitate early return to work & sustain their workers’ role in a multidisciplinary approach. The Occupational Therapy RTW program included Work Capacity Evaluation & Work Rehabilitation (WR), Vocational Counselling, RTW coordination (e.g. job modification advices, case meeting with supervisor) & Ergonomics Consultation Services (ECS).
Methodology :
During the period of 1 Jan and 31 Dec 2022, a total of 283 new staff attending OMCS for medical consultation & injury management. 109 staff were referred from OMCS & other clinical specialties to Occupational Therapy department of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) for RTW program. Among them, 31 males and 78 females with mean age 47.6 (sd=10.48) were recruited into the RTW program. Nearly two-thirds were aged 50 or above. The disease group was mainly from 96 musculoskeletal injury (88.1%) involving 42 spine (38.5%), 27 upper limb (24.8%) & 27 lower limb (24.8%). Others were referred from Medical & Surgical specialties (8.3%) & Oncology (3.7%). The staff categories were 39 professional staff (35.8%), 64 health-care related supporting staff (58.7%) and 6 clerical staff (5.5%).
Result & Outcome :
As of at 31 Dec 2022, 57 staff were injury on duty (IOD) & 52 were non IOD cases. The type of accident was categorized into (a) Manual Handling Operation (MHO) related (33%), e.g. sprained back after transferring patients; (b) Slip, Strike, Trip & Fell (SSTF) injury (32.1%); (c) Chronic Disease (28.4%) & (d) Sport injury (6.4%). They have attended RTW program at Occupational Therapy department of PMH with mean number of WR sessions 8.4 (sd= 14.76). Among 109 injured staff, 93 staff (85.4%) has resumed work with full duty (24.8%) / modified duties (60.6%). 16 staff (14.7%) were still on sick leave for further medical treatment, rehabilitation & early retirement.
The success of this program depends on various factors. Firstly, the OMCS adopts a multidisciplinary approach with prompt medical consultation, injury management and fast track Work Rehabilitation that tailor-made for individual needs. Secondly, the staff progress was closely monitored by OMCS team to ensure that the injured staff could cope with the job demand physically & psychological. The work trial program tailor made for injured staff to facilitate early return to workplace with tailor made job modification, the strong support from high management & work units and the active participation of the injured staff contributed to reduce the RTW barriers at workplace. Thirdly, the in-house ECS offers practical and workable solutions to the injured staff & department at workplace so as to further enhances the occupational safety and health of the injured staff. Results of the RTW program was promising & it facilitate injured staff with substantial work-related problems to resume their workers’ role as early as possible.
