Rehab effort helps injured employees return to work

Wednesday May 27, 2009

Rehab effort helps injured employees return to work

By PRIYA MENON

THE recent economic downturn has made it tough on those seeking employment, more so for those who have lost a limb or two in an accident.

For this reason, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) has come up with a rehabilitation programme to help those who were rendered helpless after an accident to find suitable jobs.

The Return to Work (RTW) programme, which began in 2007, has certainly changed the lives of these people who would usually find it tough to return to the job market.

Since its inception, 441 out of 566 employees who joined the programme have gone back to work as of March this year.

Checking it out: Two DBC physiotherapists demonstrate how an assessment is done.

Each case received by the Socso is handed over to case managers who take the time and initiative to ensure that the cases are genuine and deserved aid.

Gayathri Vadivel, a case manager, said upon receiving a case, an initial assessment was carried out to verify the extent of the injuries and disability.

Her colleague, Rosmawati Mat, 37, said the case managers worked on the strengths of the patients to ensure they received either rehabilitation or vocational skills.

This will help the patients become economically independent.

“Most of the time, these people are afraid that they may not be hired again by their employers or other companies so we have to find a way to ensure that they do get a job after the programme,” Rosmawati said.

The steps taken by the case managers include talking to the previous employers and convincing them to retain the employees with adjustments to their job scope.

“The employers are afraid that the disabled employees can no longer work as well as when they were able bodied but statistics show that a disabled employee is more loyal,” Gayathri said.

In the case of Low Yew Loi, 32, who was involved in an accident at his work place early this year, he managed to continue with his job after recuperating from his injuries over a six-month period.

Low, a site supervisor, lost his right leg after he was run over by an excavator during the construction of the Duta Ulu Kelang (DUKE) highway.

“I lost all hope of retaining my job. That is when Socso stepped in and bought a prosthetic leg for me,” he said.

“They also spoke to my employer and ensured adjustments were made so that I could continue working for them,” added Low who is now confined to office work.

At the RTW National Seminar 2009 held recently, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said more case managers would be hired to help workers who had sustained injuries.

“For now, there are only nine case managers in the country but by the end of the month we hope to employ 34 more,” he said.

Besides the case managers, the rehabilitation centres also play an important role in ensuring that the patients receive proper rehabilitation and are fit to work again.

One such centre is the Document Based Care (DBC) company that has been working with Socso since its pilot project in February 2005.

DBC chief executive officer Wee Hock Kee said DBC was the only service provider with the capacity to support the Socso RTW project nationwide.

“We have successfully treated 500 Socso patients so far nationwide and we have a success rate of more than 30% for the pilot project and for RTW early intervention, it is 63%,” he said.

DBC has back, neck, shoulder and knee protocol and assessment and it covers the psycho-social assessment of the patient and follows an approach called the “Cognitive Behaviour Approach”.

“Each rehabilitation programme lasts for 12 weeks and includes two physical examinations and 24 sessions of physiotherapy and muscle reconditioning sessions,” Wee said.