Return to work campaign targets injured workers

Injured workers who take a long time off the job can sometimes struggle to find their way back into the workforce.

WorkCover Queensland and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland will be conducting another stage of the ‘Getting back’ advertising campaign that originally ran in 2015, to help injured employees regain their employment.

“We know that the best results are achieved when employers encourage and support workers to recover at work — or, if the worker is at home, to help them return to work as soon as they are cleared to do so,” said Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace.

“Independent market research showed the campaign raised workers’, employers’ and medical professionals’ awareness that there’s nothing like getting back for getting better.”

Following stage one of the advertising campaign, the frequency of injured worker contact with their employer increased 12% and there was a 7% increase across the board in the belief that the best course of action is getting back on the job early.

“Since then, sadly the stats have slipped a bit. Even though Queensland’s workers compensation scheme remains the best in the country, we have seen a drop in the number of injured workers returning to work from 96.5 to 92.2%, and an increase in the number of days taken off work from 47.2 to 48.2 days,” Grace said.

“So to put the spotlight back on speedy return to work, we’ll run the campaign again, and hopefully get our return to work rates in Queensland back to where they were a couple of years ago.”

The $1.8 million campaign will again remind people of the health benefits of early return to work and the importance of good communication between all parties to achieve this. The TV ads are scheduled to go to air in October and will be supported by press, radio and social media.

More information is available at www.worksafe.qld.gov.au.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Gino Santa Maria