Integrating Ergonomics into the Rehabilitation Process: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach for Successful,Return-to-Work

This paper presents a system for successfully returning an injured employee to work through a multi-disciplinary approach. It details a process that interfaces physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation specialists and ergonomists, among others. The aims of an effective and efficient occupational rehabilitation process are to ultimately reduce the societal costs of health care. The factors that contribute to these costs are many, and can be influenced by the behavior of the injured worker, the employer, the doctors and other health care providers. This paper discusses the complementary functions of the ergonomist and the therapist: the ergonomist, through workplace evaluation and redesign, considers the external factors that influence an individual's performance; the therapist evaluates and aims to improve the internal factors that affect an individual's performance. A match or mismatch between the physical demands of a job and an injured employee can then easily be detected by comparing the results of an ergonomic assessment and patient evaluation by a therapist. The authors conclude by discussing problems and benefits encountered through this approach.