Workplace Health, Functional Capacity Evaluations, and Return to Work

Vocabulary flashcards covering occupational rehabilitation, Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE), Pre-Employment Functional Assessments (PEFA), Return to Work Plans (RTWP), ergonomics, and workplace psychological injuries.

Early Signs of Workplace Stress or Distress

Behavioral and performance changes in an employee that indicate psychological strain, specifically decreased productivity and work performance, workplace withdrawal, and increased unplanned absence.

Psychological Workplace Injuries

Mental health-related work injuries that, when compared to physical workplace injuries, cost significantly more and result in substantially more lost working time.

Workers' Compensation Mental Disorder Claims Percentage

The proportion of all workers' compensation claims attributed to mental disorders, representing approximately $10.5\%$ (or $6\%$ in primary reference data).

Bus Drivers (Mental Health Risk)

An occupational group classified as having a high risk for mental disorders relative to other manual trades such as electricians and concreters.

Catastrophising

A cognitive distortion and pattern of negative thinking in which an individual persistently anticipates or assumes the absolute worst outcome of a situation.

DASS-21

The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21; the most appropriate clinical outcome measurement tool utilized to characterise depression outcomes in a patient.

Rehabilitation Provider (Scope of Practice)

A workplace rehabilitation specialist who conducts workplace assessments, functional capacity evaluations, and return to work plans, but is not responsible for completing Allied Health Recovery Requests (AHRR) on behalf of a treatment provider.

Return to Work Plan (RTWP) Responsibility

The statutory responsibility for establishing and maintaining a Return to Work Plan, which legally and ultimately rests with the employer.

Return to Work Plan Review Schedule

The operational timeline dictating that a Return to Work Plan must be formally reviewed whenever the injured worker's Certificate of Capacity is reviewed.

Injured Worker Dismissal Protection Period

The legally protected timeframe of $6\text{ months}$ following an injury during which an employer is prohibited by law from dismissing an injured worker.

Injured Worker's Certified Capacity

The medical determination of a worker's functional abilities specified on their medical certificate, serving as the single most important factor when designing suitable duties.

Suitable Duties

Workplace tasks accommodated to an injured worker's functional limitations, also referred to interchangeably as modified duties, alternate duties, or light duties.

Third Most Preferable Return to Work Goal

Within the occupational rehabilitation return-to-work hierarchy, returning an injured worker to a 'different job with the same employer' (following same job/same employer, and similar job/same employer).

Return to Work Probability After 20 Days

The statistical likelihood that an injured employee will ever return to the workplace, which declines to $70\%$ once they have reached $20\text{ days}$ off work.

RTWP Best Practice Standard

The administrative standard requiring that Return to Work Plans must always be formally documented in writing rather than communicated verbally.

Host Employer

A secondary or external employer that temporarily accommodates an injured worker with short-term suitable duties when their original employer cannot offer suitable duties.

Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) Requester

The primary party in the workers' compensation system that typically initiates and requests an FCE, most commonly the insurer.

Malingering (FCE Reporting)

A subjective behavioral accusation that should never be documented in an objective FCE report, unlike measurable parameters such as RPE, load, and consistency of effort.

Physical Demands Analysis (FCE Development)

A structured assessment tool detailing the objective physical requirements of a job, which greatly assists clinicians in the design and development of an FCE.

Medicolegal Functional Evaluation

The specific type of Functional Capacity Evaluation most commonly requested within workers' compensation systems to resolve medical-legal claims and disputes.

Specific Function Test

A targeted functional evaluation protocol that is essentially equivalent in structure and objective to a Pre-Employment Functional Assessment (PEFA).

Pre-PEFA Ingestion Protocol

The mandatory screening protocol requiring that an applicant must not consume caffeine or nicotine in the $2\text{ hours}$ leading up to a Pre-Employment Functional Assessment.

Special Tests (PEFA)

Orthopedic and physical stress tests incorporated into a PEFA specifically to test and evaluate anatomical structures that will be subjected to physical stress during the target job role.

Functional Movement Screen (FMS)

A functional movement assessment battery comprising standardized movements like the Deep Squat, Hurdle Step, and Trunk Stability Push-Up, but excluding exercises like the Romanian Deadlift.

Performance Tests Downfall (PEFA)

A primary limitation of relying strictly on performance tests in a pre-employment evaluation, namely that underlying functional movement deficits are not considered.

Pre-Participation Medical Examination

A comprehensive pre-employment clinical screening that routinely includes vision assessment, cardiovascular examination, and screening for hernias.

PEFA Financial Responsibility

The party responsible for bearing the cost of a pre-employment functional assessment, which is typically paid for by the prospective employer.

FCE Physical Test Design Parameters

The core biomechanical and ergonomic variables that must be accounted for when designing specific physical tests within an FCE, namely load, posture, and frequency.

Branches of Ergonomics

The three recognized scientific branches of human factors ergonomics—physical, cognitive, and organizational/psychological ergonomics—which do not include an 'emotional' branch.

Physical Demands Analysis (PDA)

An objective occupational assessment tool that defines job duties, captures postures, loads, and reaches, and serves multiple end users, but does not establish a measure of human risk.