Work Restrictions after a Work Injury

Work injuries often come with restrictions that the doctor will put the person on to ensure he or she may recover fully and not become the basis for injuries to others due to accidents. If the employer does not follow said restrictions, he or she may hold responsibility for the incidents that occur and possess liability for damages owed to injured parties.

Working after an injury is possible if the doctor clears the person. However, the involved doctor in this process generally places the employee on work restrictions that he or she must follow along with the employer. These restrictions remain in place until the injured person is able to return to full work. The employer does not have the permission to work the person beyond his or her capacity, and if the work is too strenuous, the doctor may place additional restrictions. The only exceptions generally exist when the worker with the injury cannot do any job or there is no job that he or she may perform available with fewer stresses.

Modified Job Duties

It is important for a person to return to work quickly once he or she suffers an injury. However, broken bones, stress to various systems and internal damage take time to heal. Some may require rehabilitation or other treatment before returning to the full scope of job duties from before the injury. It is possible for the employer to modify the job tasks the person must perform to lower the stress on the body, increase safety and prevent possible further damage to the person’s stressed areas. By modifying job duties, the employer may help other employees avoid accidents and increase the possible recovery of the injured person.

The Transitional Work Available

If the person injured is able to return to work with certain restrictions, he or she may perform job duties with a real job for a specified amount of time as per the restrictions explain. This is usually about two to three months before the doctor will release the individual to fulltime employment as he or she engaged in previously. This is the transitional work. This helps the person recover and still work in a job that exists. For a person that operates heavy machinery, he or she may remain behind a desk answering phones until his or her body recovers fully.

Modified Work Explained

As with modified job duties, the individual may move to a different department or section of the company where he or she works with a job that exists with some slight modifications. In modified work, some functions change. If the company has the capacity and ability to do so, someone will provide a job that the injured person can perform through the removal of certain tasks or alterations to the processes. Similarly, to the person that operates heavy equipment, he or she may have a modified job through checking and maintaining the equipment on paper rather than lifting or straining the body.

Light Duties Explained

When the doctor clears a person to work, he or she usually places serious restrictions to prevent injury or to stop the employee from accruing new injuries or further aggravating the current ones. To do so, the employer may need to place the person on light duties that remove the harder tasks or ensure that the worker is nowhere near any machinery or heavy equipment that could cause a strain on the body. Similarly, the employee may need to work shorter days at first to become accustomed to the tasks once again.

Alternative Work Duties

The employer may have several options when the individual is unable to work the same job. He or she may place the worker in alternative duties that are similar but lighter or remove any possible strain on the body. This could change the job or move the person to another section of the building. The employer may also use different skills or talents of the same employee for a different job or the same one but in another manner. By doing so, the employer may discover another way to keep the workflow moving forward.