Perspectives and Understanding of the Effectiveness of Workplace Injury Management and Occupational Rehabilitation Within a Self-Insured Organisation from the Injured Workers Point of View.

Literature reviews conducted on Australian Workplace Injury Management & Occupational Rehabilitation (WIM&OR) have revealed that WIM&OR is regarded by the statutory authorities administering the systems as one of the most effective tools to control work related injuries. Harrison & Allen (2001) explains firstly, that the majority of research in WIM&OR is aimed at exploring the effectiveness of WIM&OR systems from the employer’s point of view in regards to reducing claims cost, Lost Time Injuries (LTI) and Return to Work (RTW) rates. And secondly that there is limited research in the understanding of WIM&OR especially for self-insured organisations.

This research question aims to examine the injured workers views and understanding of the effectiveness of early intervention and communication, RTW barriers and motivational factors of WIM&OR from the injured workers point of view. Research on this topic is expected to identify areas of improvement and highlight any barriers faced by the injured workers within WIM&OR in self-insured organisations. Due to the lack of research of WIM&OR within self-insured organisations, this research will be conducted within Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) a self-insured organisation in N.S.W.

Research into the barriers and motivational factors of injured workers within the WIM&OR arena will provide a greater understanding of an injured workers motivation and RTW barriers faced by injured workers. This knowledge can then be used to identify areas of improvement within the SWAHS and provide a basis for further quantitative research to meet the 40% reduction in compensation claims as stated by the N.S.W Premiers Department public Sector OHS and Injury Management Strategy for 2005 – 2008.

This research will be conducted using a phenomenology method, to study selected injured workers from a self-insured organisation to determine the injured workers understanding and interpretation of their experiences in WIM&OR in their own terms as cited by Rice & Ezzy (1999). Due to the limited research of WIM&OR from an injured workers perspective, the phenomenology method of study design was selected, as it will help demonstrate the meaning and interpretation of the injured workers experience within the WIM&OR process.

Key topics, early intervention and communication, RTW barriers, motivational factors and benefits of WIM&OR will provide the semi-structured framework for the phenomenology study. Traditionally frameworks have not been used in phenomenology as the researcher looks for issues to arise from the data rather then imposing a framework. The semi-structured aspects of this research the framework will provide a guide to understand some specific experiences of the injured workers while still allowing the injured workers to explore other WIM&OR experiences.

Phenomenology was chosen as this research attempts to understand the WIM&OR process from the injured employee’s point of view. Other study designs such as endogenous research as cited by Rice & Ezzy (1999) were considered but rejected due to the semi-structured aspects of this research that could not be covered through endogenous research.

The source population will be injured workers from the SWAHS, a self-insured organisation in N.S.W, who are currently receiving workers compensation benefits. On average SWAHS has 100 employees receiving workers compensation within one year. Consent forms to participate will be sent to 50 injured workers who have current claims spanning 7 days off work, as per N.S.W Workcover requirements for workers compensation claims. Consent forms will be given to the participants to read and sign explaining the process of collecting and retaining data, confidentiality, opportunity for participants to withdraw, anonymous results, policies and procedures and feedback for participants.

SWAHS Workers Compensation Unit Annual Report for 2005 indicate that twelve weeks is the average length of time injured workers receive compensation within SWAHS. It is expected that a minimum of 26 injured workers participate in the research for results to be conclusive. And 13 of the 26 participants must represent claims over the 12 week average, thus giving the researchers comparisons between injured workers who RTW above and below the average for RTW claims. This information should provide a cross section of the injured workers receiving compensation. The timeframe for the research is guided by a maximum of 12 weeks of research, with another 12 weeks for evaluation and preparation.

Purposeful sampling will be conducted using criterion sampling as described by Bowling (2002). While other types of sampling may be more convenient such as convenience sampling or provide vast amounts of information such as using extreme case sampling, criterion sampling was decided