Services

Workplace Rehabilitation

Pace National is a Nationally Accredited Workplace Rehabilitation Provider (WRP) with Workover WA. Pace National staff are passionate about helping individuals and organisations in their efforts to assist staff back to work as efficiently and sustainably as possible.

“Workplace rehabilitation is a managed process involving early intervention with appropriate, adequate and timely services based on assessed need, and which is aimed at maintain injured or ill employees in, or returning them to, suitable employment” (National Occupational Health and Safety Council)

Pace National provides a range of general and specialised workplace rehabilitation services aimed at supporting the needs of employers and injured workers. Our service delivery model involves the provision of a designated, experienced rehabilitation consultant who is responsible and accountable for coordinating services designed to achieve safe, cost effective and durable outcomes for both employers and injured workers.

Early intervention, the provision of appropriate and meaningful duties and the collaborative engagement of key parties (worker, employer, medical, insurer, other) in implementing an injured workers’ return to work, significantly reduces the duration and associated costs of claims.

Pace National uses a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment process to consider all aspects that may impact on the return to work process. This includes building strong, collaborative relationships between key parties and to achieve realistic, durable, and cost-effective outcomes. To achieve this, Pace National incorporates the following key aspects into their process;

• Initial Assessment: accurate identification of risks and needs and use of evidence-based assessments
• Return to Work Planning: aimed at ensuring the return to work is both safe and sustainable for the injured worker and their employer
• Communication and Consistent Implementation: consistent, collaborative, individualized and solution focused
• Review and Evaluation: continuous review process to allow evaluation of the effectiveness of outcomes, costs and impacts to ensure the service is meaningful, of value and goal orientated
• Durable Return to Work / Outcomes: maximizing return to work through sustained outcomes for the worker and employer wherever possible

Workplace Rehabilitation Interventions

Return to Work Plans and Case Management: Pace National consultants can manage a vocational rehabilitation case to develop tailored return to work plans and liaise with key stakeholders to ensure timeliness of services and information. Pace national employ a range pf physical and psychological therapists to manage both physical and psychological claims to ensure the return to work process is individualised and smooth.

Ergonomic Assessments: Ergonomic Assessments are designed to assess the workstation of an individual and how human factors can influence the impact on the body. This can be done in an office or at home setting and recommendations made to ensure the work environment is designed to minimize any discomfort or assist in preventing injuries associated with a desk-based role.

Workplace Assessments (WSA): A WSA is a specialised on-site assessment of a worker’s duties and/or potential suitable duties. A skilled consultant will analysis the workplace risk factors and recommend suitable duties and appropriate risk controls. This can assist to resolve problems identified to be causing or aggravating workplace injuries and can also identify preventative actions. This tool can also be used for an injured worker’s treating medical team to understand the physical and/or psychological demands of a role to identify duties which would be suitable for a return to work program at each stage of recovery for the injured worker.

Job Task Analysis (JTA): A JTA or physical demands assessment, involves the examination and breakdown of the skills and demands specific to a particular task or duties within the workplace. This tool can be used to identify suitable duties for an injured worker with their treating health practitioners and can also be used to help employers and recruiters match job candidates based on the physical demands of a role.

Vocational Assessment: A Vocational Assessment is used to analyse current skills and experience, set vocational goals and outline potential career options. This assessment considers individual functional and work capacity and identifies transferable skills whilst also including an assessment of labour market information.

Vocational Counselling: Vocational or career counselling supports and provides information to workers wanting to progress or change their career. It can assist workers to identify their work interests and set and focus on career goals. This can also be beneficial to organisations undergoing a re-structure.

Transferrable Skills Analysis (TSA): A TSA is an assessment of the skills and knowledge a person acquires from the actual performance of a job and from learned situations. This is beneficial when a worker has a wide range of skills, employment history and who generally do not require retraining to re-enter the open labour market. This assessment can also be used to define a person’s skills and experience for new placements or positional changes.

Labour Market Analysis: A Labour Market Analysis can provide essential information for people looking to change employment or for injured workers who are unable to return to their pre-injury role. A sound understanding of the local labour market is also effective for ensuring that a reasonable, achievable goal is set.

Psychological Assessment and Counselling: Where a worker is experiencing personal or work-related problems, psychological issues may manifest in the workplace. Pace National can provide psychological treatment in relation to a range of issues including;

• Adjustment to Injury
• Anxiety / Depression
• Trauma
• Grief and Loss
• Relationships / Family
• Self-esteem and Assertiveness
• Career Guidance
• Substance Abuse
• Stress Education and Management
• Anger Management
• Pain Management

Job Preparation Assistance: When an employee is required to look for a new employer and/or duties, Pace National can assist with job preparation. This can include resume development, interview techniques and practice, job application assistance and job-seeking activities.

Host Employment: A host employer is used when a pre-injury employer is unable to accommodate restricted duties at the workplace due to a range of factors. A host workplace is then sourced to allow the injured worker to build their capacity for work before returning to their pre-injury employer when possible. By undertaking a host employment, the injured worker is able to complete a graduated return to work duties in order to minimize the risk of re-injury or aggravation of their current injury.

Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA): Pace National works with the Insurance Commission of Western Australia to assist individuals that have been involved in a car accident impacting on their capacity to work. Pace National can assist those individuals to locate new work or participate in a Return to Work Program with their current employer to minimise the risk of aggravation of their current injury.

Activities of Daily Living: An ADL assessment determines the level and type of assistance a person requires in order to live as independently as possible. The assessment provides recommendations for equipment and/or home modifications and can be used when developing a return to work or rehabilitation plans as a means to increasing a person’s physical capacity.

Injury Prevention

Job Dictionaries: A job dictionary is a document that encompasses all job tasks analysis in an organisation. It details elements associated with a role to look at the physical, behavioural, cognitive and environmental factors of any given task. This can be used for recruitment, matching employee to job roles, pre-employment assessments, performance indicators of an individual as well as giving medical teams the information of a job role required for an injured employee.

Suitable Duties Register (SDR): A SDR is a document that includes the information from a Job Dictionary and adds on risk factors for injuries as well as plans for an injured worker to return to work. This document will identify the “suitable duties” of a role for an injured worker to commence on a Return to Work Plan following medical guidance. A suitable duties register can also be used as an early intervention tool to assist in pre-employment assessments, matching employee to role, fitness for work assessments and induction into roles.

Manual Handling Training: Manual handling training is designed to assist individuals, teams and organisations to utilize safe manual handling techniques to avoid injury. Pace National physical therapists carry out manual handling training using four key principles of manual handling to ensure the risk of injuries is reduced and that individuals understand how to safely undertake a manual task. The four key principles that Pace National encompasses are;

• Risk factors for injury occurrence
• Correct manual handling techniques for different manual tasks
• Environment for the task
• Use of assisting aids i.e. mechanical

Ergonomic Assessments and Training: An ergonomic assessment is carried out to ensure an individual is appropriately set up at their office environment to reduce the risk of injury or discomfort. From this assessment, recommendations can be made to change the environment to better suit the needs of the individual. For example, adjusting the chair height, lowering the keyboard, sit to stand desks. This assessment can be undertaken at the office or home environment to suit the individuals needs. Pace National will also educate the individual in how to set up their own environment to ensure maximum comfort at any office space.

Vehicle Ergonomic Assessments: This assessment is carried out in a vehicle for individuals whose jobs are primarily vehicle based i.e. truck driver. This assessment will ensure the individual has a well set-up environment in their vehicle to ensure maximum comfort and reduce the risk of injury. This can include looking at the controls of the vehicle, chair height and shock absorbing capacity, lighting as well as how the individual is performing tasks and fatigue management.

EAP and Psychological Services

Employee Assistance Program (EAP): An EAP is a discreet, confidential, counselling and support service designed to assist an employee in relation to any work related or personal issue that may be impacting upon emotional, mental or general health and wellbeing. EAP is a short-term, solution-focused service that aims to provide support and strategies for employees experiencing a difficult time in their life.

Our services are accessible 24 hours per day and we service both metropolitan and regional areas. All EAP sessions are completed with one of our experienced psychologists.

Management Assistance Program (MAP): an MAP offers managers, supervisors and mentors to confidential coaching and support in addressing many of the challenging issues that can be faced when leading staff and teams. It is designed to allow leaders to address issues early, and some of those issues can include managing team dynamics, performance management, responding to critical incidents and any other issues that may be impacting team performance.

Psychology services: Our team of Clinical Psychologists, Clinical Psychologists registrars and Registered Psychologists have extensive experience in assisting people in with the WorkCover WA scheme and privately. We can help to address various mental health issues including;

Critical Incident Management: This involves exploring in a non-directive manner, a person’s reactions to the incident and educating them as to common emotional, physiological and behavioral reactions to traumatic events. Our Psychologists respond quickly following a traumatic event to provide support to your workers and help them cope with the effects of the incident using an evidence-based approach. Workers are education o the type of responses they may have to the event and recommended strategies to manage stress including; expressing feelings about what has happened; accessing support that is available i.e. family, friends, company EAP; relaxation, exercise; rest. Occasionally, individual debriefing or counselling may also be recommended.

Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Unresolved workplace grievances and conflict can result in poor productivity, absenteeism, illness and injury. It can also lead to workers compensation aims – in particular stress claims. Pace National Registered Psychologists are highly experiences mediators and counsellors and our approach involves a behaviour and action plan based approach, developing commitment from both parties and implementing a consistent and responsible plan.

Organisational Consulting

Pace National understands how important it is to make the right decisions about people and to assist individuals, teams and organisations to perform t their full potential. We offer evidence-based, individually targeted organisational consulting services to identify and meet specific requirements which can include;

• Organisational and Business Reviews
• Leadership Assessment and Development
• Individual and Team Performance
• Job and Workflow Design
• Career Transition and Outplacement
• Human Resource Outsourcing
• Occupational Health – employee wellbeing, safety and work-life balance
• Training and Facilitation
• HR policies and procedure review/development
• Injury management policy and procedure review/development
• Corporate Services and Infrastructure Reviews and Strategy Development

Department of Veterans Affairs

Pace National works with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide services to ex defense force employees to assist them with three main areas of support:

1. Vocational Assistance: Finding new employment, investigating options or pathways for further study, determining suitable vocational direction, job seeking, organising work trial programs and supporting Veterans returning to work.
2. Psychosocial Assistance: Assisting Veterans to engage with the community through clubs, classes, groups and other areas of interest, link veterans to obtain further family or social support, venues for self-management of health conditions, life management skills and other areas to improve overall wellbeing.
3. Medical Management: Assist Veterans to understand, access and navigate the health system when transitioning to civilian life.

Visit Veterans Affairs website for more information.

National Panel of Assessors

The NPA is a Panel of approved and qualified providers appointed by the Australian Government to deliver assessment services to assist people with disability who are seeking employment and/or need support to stay in employment.

The National Panel of Assessors (NPA) is an Australian Government program providing independent assessments where an individual's physical, intellectual or psychological disability presents a barrier to participation and independence in the workforce, with the objective of identifying interventions to help overcome their barriers and maximise their ability to work.

NPA assessments include Supported Wage (SWS) assessments, Ongoing Support (OSA) assessments and Workplace Modifications assessments (only by a qualified Occupational Therapist) which are undertaken to enhance employment participation by people living with a disability and assist them to maintain employment.

The purpose of an assessment under the National Panel of Assessors is to provide the following:

• Support employees with a disability to participate in employment
• Support employees with a disability with access to services/needs to support employment
• Assessments of the workplace with the employee with a disability that is fair and equitable