Workplace Rehabilitation

Work plays a very important role for workers, employers and industry.

For employees, work impacts not just on ones financial wellbeing, but also on ones emotional and physical health. The negative effects of not working can be seen in family relationship breakdowns, poor health, social isolation and depression.

For employers, taking care of injured workers and giving them a fair go in the workplace also makes good business sense. Your employees are your most important resource so it makes sense to support and protect your investment in your people and their knowledge of your business.

Pace National is a Nationally Accredited Workplace Rehabilitation Provider (WRP) with WorkCover 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 maintaining 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, highly 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. Pace National seeks to understand the needs of employers and their business, enabling consultants to deliver targeted services that are realistic and durable for the workplace and the worker.

Pace National’s model focuses on:

  • an early intervention approach; promoting maintenance at work or an early return to work
  • a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment process; consideration of all aspects that may impact on rehabilitation, using bio-psychosocial evidence-based tools and determining realistic and sustainable goals
  • building strong relationships between employers, workers, insurers and medical professionals; ensuring a consistent approach to return to work strategies
  • collaborative and accountable case management; coordinating rehabilitation strategies that achieve durable and cost effective outcomes
  • specialised, knowledgeable support; support for employers at the macro level through highly skilled and experienced consultants
  • realistic and sustainable outcomes; coordinating retraining and placement efficiently and effectively where a worker is unable to return to pre-injury duties

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

Pace National’s model for workplace rehabilitation has many keys to its success. Some of the core aspects to achieving cost effective, sustainable outcomes include:

  • Assessment of Need – Accurate identification of risks and needs ensures the most appropriate intervention is delivered to achieve a safe return to work. We use a range of evidence based bio-psychosocial assessment tools that assist in identifying potential barriers to success and appropriate intervention strategies. The assessment is crucial in identifying critical success factors, engaging the worker and other parties in the process, building trust and commitment and determining realistic and sustainable goals.
  • Return to Work Planning – Effective return to work planning is aimed at maintaining an injured worker in the workplace or returning them to work by involving key parties in documenting a realistic return to work goal and aligning resources and actions so that a rapid, cost effective, safe and sustainable return to work is achieved.
  • Communicative and Consistent Implementation – Pace National’s model of service:
    • is consistent – one consultant throughout the duration of the case
    • is collaborative – all parties working together
    • is individualised – based on the needs of all parties
    • is solution focussed – setting realistic and sustainable goals
  • Review and Evaluation – Pace National continuously reviews and evaluates the effectiveness of our outcomes, costs and impact so that customers and clients receive services that are meaningful, value added, timely, and goal oriented – and that goals support client and customer needs. Pace National is an experienced outcomes based evaluator. Outcomes based evaluation assists to:
    • understand, verify or enhance the impact of services provided
    • improve service delivery where greater efficiency is likely to be possible
    • verify that what was planned is actually being implemented and determine reasons why not
    • encourage ongoing evaluation of goals ie: has the goal been achieved?, is the goal still the most valid?, do relevant stakeholders still support the goal?
    • produce data and/or evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of interventions
    • task analyse programs for learning and service improvement purposes so that good practice can be replicated and poor practice eliminated
  • Durable Return to Work / Outcomes– Pace National is committed to maximising return to work through sustainable outcomes maintained by both the worker and the employer wherever this is possible. A provider must check prior to closing a file that has resulted in a return to work that the return to work is durable and identify any needs that are expected to maintain durability.