 The employee has the greatest influence over return to work outcomes, but supervisor input is not far behind.
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Supervisor responsibilities include:
| • | Encouraging early reporting of problems. Supervisors should be responsive to injury reporting, acknowledging the report and working with employees to identify the next steps. |
| • | Assisting the injured or ill worker to access appropriate medical care. |
| • | Coordinating completion of the incident report. |
| • | Identifying appropriate return to work duties, in conjunction with the employee and, where appropriate, their treating practitioner. Appropriate duties will vary from case to case: it may be the person's normal job, the normal job with modifications, or another job within the site. |
| • | Collaborating with the employee and, where appropriate, their doctor, to develop a return to work plan. |
| • | Ongoing communication with the employee regarding return to work duties. For example, a daily conversation, weekly sit down meeting and regular meetings with other members of the team, such as the return to work coordinator, or the health and safety manager. |
| • | Supporting the employee to address concerns about duties, hours of work and shifts. Where appropriate, the supervisor should facilitate the involvement of other members of the team – for example co-workers and RTW Coordinators. |
| • | Informing the RTW coordinator about any issues that arise. |
| • | Addressing ergonomic or health and safety issues while the employee is on modified duties. |
| • | Working with the employee to upgrade duties as the person's condition improves. This is known as graduated return to work. |
