Preventive Services
The key to reducing the costs of injuries is preventing them from occurring. St. Elizabeth Work Rehabilitation Center has a series of preventive services targeted at the causes of injuries. These programs can be structured or tailored to meet your resources and needs.
Functional Capacity Evaluations
Once an injury occurs, it is important to establish a timely, safe and reliable plan of action. This evaluation assists in determining the individual's physical and functional capabilities in relation to work. This allows the referral source to determine the appropriate rehabilitation plan in order to speed up the return to work timeframe.
The FCE is an evaluation designed for the injured employee and used to provide a baseline for a Work Hardening Program or return to work status. This test can assess dynamic strength, position tolerance, mobility, fine motor, balance, coordination, and endurance. The FCE provides objective measures of an individual’s functional abilities that can assist in the return to work placement or disability determination.
Rehabilitation
The typical Work Rehabilitation Center client has been off work for more than three months and is usually de-conditioned and fearful of re-injury. Our work oriented treatment programs are designed to improve the workers' productivity by increasing tolerance and improving pain management. These can be achieved through Work Conditioning and Work Hardening.
A therapist will create an individualized program based on information gathered from the employee, employer, and possibly visit the work site in order to understand specific job functions/demands. The program is designed to encourage the individual to actively participate in their program to achieve successful results.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the science of designing workspaces and tools to help people do their jobs comfortably and safely. Employees working in an ergonomically designed workplace will be less fatigued, less distracted by discomfort and less stressed by excessive physical demands. In return, this can result in lower probability of error, less likelihood of accidents, better productivity and improved employee morale.
St. Elizabeth Business Health Center has an Occupational Therapist trained in Ergonomics who can assist client companies with areas of their operations.
Job Placement Assessments (JPA)
Statistics show the use of JPA’s can help reduce work place injury and employee turnover by identifying associates who meet the essential physical job demands for your worksite. Since 1997, Business Health statistics consistently show companies utilizing JPA’s experienced an injury rate of 3% or less. This can be compared to an alarming national injury rate of 14% for the non-assessed warehouse employee.
The Business Health Center offers a variety of assessment tools to perform JPA’s. We will work with you to identify the appropriate JPA assessment tool for your specific work environment.
Benefits:
- Physically prepared to perform job demands
- Decrease in lost work days, lost productivity, and cost
- Rapid case closure
- Documented safe physical capabilities to aid physician in return to work restrictions and full duty clearances
For information regarding any of the above services call Business Health Sales and Marketing at (859) 301-2574.