- Assessing workplace injuries
- History of presenting injury
- Any associated symptoms including red flags
- Previous similar injuries or past injuries at same area
- Understanding of workers tasks/responsibilities
- Details about how symptoms prevent individual from completing their job requirements safely
- Educate about workplace rights
- Rare to certify completely unfit for work – consider modified duties
- Ongoing participation in the job – reduces recover time, minimize lost time, optimizes mental wellbeing
- Aim to set realistic expectations
- Identify barriers to return to work
- Treat injury as appropriate
- Ensure patient knows documentation for medico-legal purposes
- Consider aspects psychosocial stress at work
- Excessive workload
- Poor work-life balance
- Lack of involvement in decisions that affect worker
- Lack of autonomy, role clarity
- Poor communication related to changes
- Job insecurity
- Lack of support from management
- Colleagues poor social relationships
- Working with public, difficulty clients, students, customers
- Patient factors
- Time in role
- Full time, part time, hours
- Workplace culture and relationships
- Education history
- Past roles
- Occupational skill set
- History
- Social stressors
- Symptoms related to mood, anxiety
- Past history mental health issues
- Substance use, self harm
- Assess if able to return
- Structure/routine, sleep/wake cycle, ADLs, managing commitments
- Energy/endurance
- Cognitive capacity to concentrate, focus, remember, organize
- Interpersonal function
- Coping
- Evidence of work capacity – engaging study, work, volunteer
- Medication effects
- Consider
- Return part time
- Role with lower demands
- Timing of review with supervisors
- History of occupational exposures
- Job title, hours, location, duties, frequency of exposure to potential carcinogens
- Ventilation, PPE, hygiene
- Benzene
- Exposure to fuels, steel workers, printers, rubber worker, shoe makers
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