Help Me!! Help You.

Channelling Jerry McGuire, “Help Me!! Help You, Heeeelp Me!! Help You”, has become all too common in our workplace. We see it time and time again; injured employees that instantly believe the management of their injury and their recovery is someone else’s problem or responsibility.

WorkCover is a no-fault system and any injury occurring at work is unfortunate as no-one sets out to hurt or injure their staff, however individuals must take responsibility for their treatment and recovery. Sure, we can provide advice and guidance but you can only lead a horse to water…

It is concerning to see the attitudes of some employees following a workplace injury. We do not doubt that it can be tough managing any injury and fully appreciate the impact this can have on general day to day activities. What doesn’t make sense is how this is made any easier to deal with if there is minimal personal responsibility.

It is fair to say that the medical fraternity have a lot to answer for when dealing with this type of attitude. In a lot of ways, they actually promote it via a lack of ‘tough love’ or general honesty regarding an individual’s situation. Any person who is injured needs to be encouraged and provided with direction. Enabling their lack of motivation to get better does not benefit anyone and is a ‘soft’ but often too common option.

We cannot and do not ignore the psychological overlay that can come with any physical injury and, whilst this is becoming more and more prevalent, the actions taken by employers and support personnel immediately following any workplace injury can dictate the attitude toward their recovery that then occurs.

Take the time, spend a minute, provide some help and reinforce your approach to the health and wellbeing of your employees. Give them the ability and knowledge to ask the right questions of their medical providers and guide and assist them to drive their own recovery. Promote and support an early return to work and help to challenge medical opinion if there is no progress. Keep it positive and continue to encourage…

WorkCover is unlimited when to comes to treatment options; essentially anything and everything is on offer and will, in most cases be paid for. Identify and manage the attitude early; don’t be afraid of the tough love approach – people must take some responsibility. There really is no excuse…