TIP OF THE WEEK

September 16, 2011

Did you know...?

A complete and accurate job description helps aid in the recovery of an employee from a work injury.

The scenario…

The sheepish look on supervisor Glen Baker’s face told manager Mike Davis a problem was about to be laid on him.

“You know I like to handle this stuff myself,” Glen began, “but this is a tricky situation.

“You remember Scott who was in that car accident?”

“Sure,” Mike said. “What a shame. The other car ran a red light, slammed into Scott’s car. He’s had, how many surgeries, three, four?

I understand he’s come back to work.”

“Right,” said Glen. “We’re real glad to see him. He’s a great guy who’s been through hell. But …”

“But what?” asked Mike.

“Scott can’t get around like he used to. He’s walking without the cane now, but he’s slowed down a lot. I didn’t think he could return to his old position, so I’ve got him doing some lighter stuff.

“He keeps pushing to return to his old job. It obviously means a lot to him. But I don’t think he can move quickly enough if he needed to. I don’t want something else to happen to him on the job – or worse to him and someone else.”

Mike knew a decision had to be made about whether Scott could return to his previous tasks without affecting safety.

If you were Mike, what would you do next?

When given the above scenario 3 safety experts were asked what they would do and the unanimous decision was to have Scott evaluated by a physician familiar with the workplace and his job description.

Why a job description???

A job description outlines the responsibilities of a position as well as the employee's work environment. Job descriptions are critical for a variety of legal and business-related purposes in companies of all sizes but did you know job descriptions also help the physician return an injured employee back to work safely? It is important to verify an employee can safely perform the tasks of their job without injuring themselves further.

An accurate job description allows the physician to determine if an employee can safely return to the workplace or if modified duty is more appropriate. Physicians and physical therapists experienced in workers' compensation injury care often use functional testing that parallels the job description to help determine the employees’ physical ability to return to the job safely.

If you don’t have a current job description for your employees’ positions, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles is a good place to start. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) was created by the Employment and Training Administration, and was last updated in 1991. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles can be found at http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm.

OHS-COMPCARE’s subsidiary, Rehabilitation Specialists provides services that both evaluate employees’ physical abilities after an injury or illness and work to prevent accidents and illness in the first place. Our goal is to have a job description available for every employee being evaluated for injury care. We ask that you provide job descriptions when available or utilize the Dictionary of Occupational Titles when appropriate so that each employee can be matched up with their appropriate job description to assist in their care.

To learn more about Rehabilitation Specialists or about how you can provide job descriptions for your employees contact our Client Services Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at clientservices@ohscompcare.com.

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FLU SHOTS –OHS-COMPCARE is offering seasonal flu shots to clients again in 2011. To be scheduled for an on-site or to learn more please contact client services at 816-561-2105 (option 1) or by email at clientservices@ohscompcare.com.

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On-line appointments – did you know you can make an appointment on-line to have an employee seen at OHS-COMPCARE? To learn more please contact client services at 816-561-2105 (option 1) or by email at clientservices@ohscompcare.com or simply follow this link to make an appointment: http://www.ohscompcare.com/findAClinic/makeAnApt.asp.

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***We are open Saturdays at our Independence location from 9am – 1pm to serve your occupational medicine and urgent care needs. Our Independence location is open 5pm – 9pm Monday – Friday to serve your after hour needs as well***

*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*

To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/.

To learn more about services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at clientservices@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.

Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE has a physician on call 24/7/365 days a year to respond to our client's needs.

Adult Quick Care is now on Facebook (www.facebook.com/aqcUrgentCare).

OHS-COMPCARE now featuring Adult Quick Care (Urgent Care Services) has seven (7) area clinical facilities:

Independence Clinical Facility	Johnson County Clinical Facility	St. Joseph Clinical Facility	Grandview Clinical Facility
19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200	10415 Lackman Road	904 Edmond Street	13830 S Us Highway 71
Independence, MO 64055	Lenexa, KS 66219	St. Joseph, MO 64501	Grandview, MO 64030
816-478-9299	913-495-9905	816-233-7702	816-761-4664
After Hours Available *Now open Saturday 9am – 1pm

KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility	KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility	Wyandotte County Clinical Facility
1650 Broadway	6501 East Commerce, Suite 110	1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200
Kansas City, MO 64108	Kansas City, MO 64120	Kansas City, KS 66102
816-842-2020	816-483-5550	913-596-2774

Adult Quick Care provides Urgent Care to Adults and Adolescents Age 14 and Older.

No appointment is necessary at Adult Quick Care.

When you are sick or have a new injury, Adult Quick Care is your affordable, time saving choice for quality care.

To learn more about Adult Quick Care please call 816-559-6320 or visit www.adultquickcare.com.