Maintien et retour au travail - S'occuper des travailleurs

Summary - Guide and Tools for Modified Work.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the leading causes of disability in industrialized societies and generate enormous human and economic costs. Strictly medical approaches to the treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with MSDs have not proven successful in preventing prolonged disability or facilitating return to work.

To reduce the length of MSD-related work absences, companies are increasingly adopting return to work measures such as "temporary assignment" or assignment of "modified work" duties. Scientific studies suggest that rehabilitation strategies that include a modified work component yield better results in terms of work absence and health status than do strictly medical approaches.

However, many companies often have difficulty identifying tasks suitable for workers with MSDs and communicating with their treating physicians. This guide and the intervention strategy and decision-aid tools it includes are intended to address these needs and the difficulties companies encounter when providing modified work assignments to employees with MSDs. It proposes an approach to the planning and implementation of modified work programs as well as identifies specific actions companies may take to carry out effective case management and follow-up of workers with MSD.

The decision-aid tools integrated into the guide, in the form of worksheets and forms, permit the rapid recognition of workrelated risk factors for MSD. There are three series of worksheets and forms that allow companies to:

• estimate the physical demands of work tasks proposed for temporary assignment;
• submit a temporary assignment proposal to the treating physician based on this evaluation;
• obtain the treating physician’s recommendations about the temporary work restrictions that apply to the injured worker.

Each series includes worksheets or forms that are specific to each of the body regions most commonly affected by these disorders, namely the back, the neck and shoulders, the elbows, and the hands and wrists.

These tools facilitate the selection of modified work tasks with physical demands that match the injured worker’s physical capacities, in an effort to avoid recurrences or aggravation of the injury and to promote rehabilitation. The recognition of these risk factors can also facilitate prevention.

This guide may be particularly useful to trainers and other professionals who help companies set up and implement return-to-work programs. They can use it as a support document for training activities. It is also intended as a reference document for workplacebased committees or working groups in occupational health or human resources who are mandated to put into place structured modified work measures.

For more information : Dr. Susan Stock (susan.stock@inspq.qc.ca)