Source: compliance.safetysmart.com
Many a times, employers and employees get a letter or medical chit with the words ‘light duties’ from the medical practitioner and sometimes from allied health practitioners; and this will usually leave the manager/supervisor scratching their head as the period recommended usually is arbitrarily given. The doctor usually leave the decision and interpretation of the word ‘light’ and time to the employers. So, what does it mean? There are many interpretations for this word. It can mean assigning work that does not make the workers present condition worse and/or giving time for the worker to recover from his/her injury or illness. The injury or illness may not be caused by the work. It may also imply downgrading workers normal work; it can be ‘do less of the normal’. Then again, it may also mean giving workers other type of work which may not be his/her daily work because the worker may not be able to carry out their daily normal routine task. Doctors and allied health staff must therefore explain and if possible describe the type of work most suitable with the employers and employees because the aim is to get the worker back to work as soon as possible for the benefit of all.
So, how does one go about it?
As was explained above, light duties usually is recommended not only by doctors, but, sometimes by other para medical staff or allied health practitioners. It is usually recommended so that the injured / ill worker can adequately recover to perform his / her normal duties. Therefore, medical personnel must understand in detail the type, duration, intensity and environment of work in cooperation with the employer and employee, to find the best solution to allow healing as well as to get the worker back to work again. This entails ideally a multi disciplinary discussion, but, would be difficult at times to get the relevant qualified experts. In most instances, it will be up to the doctor concerned to make a decision after discussion with the management and worker. Where feasible, referral to the Occupational Health Doctor/Physician (OHDP) would be advisable as they are trained in this aspect of management.
Some workers after adequate recovery need minimal or no adjustment when they return to work, while others may need some modifications for them to continue their normal daily routine work. These group need the intervention from the OHDP or relevant allied health personnel like Occupational Therapist for changes if possible in the workplace to accommodate the workers temporary disability. For the group of workers where even after rest and light duties, they may not regain their ability to perform their task and need completely new skill set to work. This group represent a challenge to everyone involve in the return to work program and this group sometimes are erroneously been given medical leave and continuous light duties; ranging from weeks, months and years!
Doctors, allied health staff, management and even unions and employees need to have an employee assistance program; to meet regularly; whereby workers with health, management or even non work related issues need to be given assistance so that workers can continue to work, be productive, doing quality work rather then just be given light duties and in the process the worker is labelled a ‘chronic’ worker and in the long term be detrimental to his/her self esteem and eventually affect his ability to continue to work.
Dr. Lim Jac Fang is an occupational health specialist based in Sabah and a permanent Malaysian Medical Gazette Columnist. Find out more about him at The Team page.
[This article belongs to The Malaysian Medical Gazette. Any republication (online or offline) without written permission from The Malaysian Medical Gazette is prohibited.]