RHS offers WorkWell pre-work screen program
Wed, 02/08/2017 - 1:00pm
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By Sara Stromseth-Troy ~ TPD Staff
CRESCO - The Regional Health Services Rehabilitation Services Department now offers the WorkWell pre-work screen program.
DPT Jenn Kuehner said, “WorkWell provides tools and training to therapists in order to design and implement a pre-work screen, risk injury assessments, job analysis and job modification and return-to-work programs that benefit both employee and employer to reduce work-related injuries.”
The program is available for employers in the region, and came about, Kuehner said, when considering questions of employee safety and risk management:
“How do we manage our risks because of the money spent on work injuries? How do we make everybody at the table safer? We have so much industry here in Cresco, and we are looking for a way to provide services to benefit local industry. By talking to people in the community, we know that a lot of people are going to Waterloo, Decorah or Mason City for these services, and we said, ‘Why not offer them here?’”
Kuehner said the occupational health team at Regional Health Services will go out into the community and visit with businesses that are interested in a pre-work screening system for their new employees.
A pre-work Screen is performed to identify an applicant's ability to perform the physical demands of a specific job.
“This program isn’t just for industry, but any business where employers want to feel their employees are safe performing their jobs,” she said.
The Regional Health Service of Howard County staff for the program consists of three physical therapists, three physical therapist assistants, two occupational therapists, and one speech therapist.
Services include: Pre-work screens, Return to work/work-hardening programs, Injury Rehabilitation Programs, and Functional Capacity Exams.
Pre-work screens are created based on the Functional Job Analysis, which looks at evaluating and measuring critical functional demands of the job.
The Regional Health Services Hospital Auxiliary funded the equipment purchased for the WorkWell Program.
For more information about WorkWell, contact Regional Health Services’ Rehabilitation Department at: 563-547-6361.
About WorkWell Systems
WorkWell Systems is an Internationally-recognized work injury management program of over 10,000 trained therapists with over 500,000 valid and legally defensible screens utilized.
WorkWell Systems is a global network of health professionals, support tools and equipment with an international research team that provides employers with an integrated approach to pre-work screening and stay-at-work/return-to-work programs.
It provides tools, training, and experienced professionals to design and implement employee’s compensation programs that create value for both the employee and employer. They include: pre-work screening, risk of injury/illness assessments, injury/illness prevention, ergonomic interventions, job analysis and job modification and stay-at-work/return-to-work programs.
The pre-work screen provides specific correlations between job demands and an applicant's physical abilities. The screens are ADA, EEOC, and OSHA compliant. The pre-work screen can also be used as a reference for early return-to-work. A portion of the screen is spent on instructing the applicant on practical strategies to increase the employee's knowledge of injury prevention.
According to Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety's 2014 Workplace Safety Index, the Top 10 causes of workplace injury are: Overexertion, falls on same level, struck by object or equipment, falls to lower level, other exertions or bodily reactions, roadway incidents involving motorized vehicle, slip or trip with fall, caught in/compressed by equipment or objects, repetitive motions involving micro-tasks, and struck against object or equipment.