Employee fitness for work is an important subject, especially when discussiing workcover insurance and injuries.

Generally, to be fit for work, an employee is considered to be in a satisfactory state of mental, emotional, and physically fitness to enable them to perform their assigned duties and not be a threat to themselves and other workers.

When discussing the topic of fit for work, alcohol, drugs and stress are the first things to come to mind, but what about the sacred cow of workers remaining physically fit during their work tenure?

It is widely known worldwide that musculo-skeletal disorders (MSD’s) make up the greatest percentage of workplace injuries and, depending on the industry, can range anywhere between about 25% to 70% of all reported injuries.

To mitigate injury exposure, some proactive organisations have implemented ‘fitness for work’ policies and undertake employee fitness education programs; with a lesser number including ‘warm-up’ activities as mandatory events prior to commencing the days work.

But is it effective enough?

It is one thing to hire workers physically fit for duties proposed, but another thing completely to get them to remain that way. What are the requirements for an employee to remain physically fit in today’s work environment?

To even broach the subject brings a caution from HR personnel. However, discussions on OHS risk elimination and mitigation should include everything, not just convenient subjects.

Below are two case studies most safety practitioners will find familiar.

Case study 1

Worker clocked on at 7.00am: out of bed 45 minutes ago - lived close to work. Began usual task of stock picking using stock picker forklift. No warm-ups – the company tried to implement them but met resistance from workers and HR. 15 minutes into shift, whilst undertaking normal ‘safe’ tasks, shoulder pain is experienced and work ceased. End result - considerable pain for worker, 3 weeks off duties (loss of overtime) and trips to medical practitioner. Light duties for two weeks. Thousands of dollars spent on investigation of incident and workcover insurance.

Case study 2

Metalworker stops smoking (well done) but takes up eating lollies. Puts on approx 20 kilograms in weight over next 12 months - from slim, fit person to well overweight for his physical frame. Picks up workpiece of average weight and experiences back pain. Result – three months of ongoing pain, several weeks off work, light duties, overtime affected, weak back and pain for several years. Thousands of dollars spent on investigation of incident and workcover insurance.

In these real case studies, nobody was the winner, except the doctor.

The questions have been asked before:

• Should MSD investigations contain questions about employee fitness?
• Should workers be expected to remain in a physically supple condition to carry out their duties?
• Should the employer be expected to pay for this expectation?
• Should organisations or industries be required by law or insurance to implement ‘warm-up’ policies?

Is this a taboo subject? Can we hit this hornet’s nest and put it on the discussion table?

Millions of dollars are spent annually in Australia on workcover insurance for MSD’s, and the pain experienced by some injured parties is quite horrendous.

Is it not time to look again into these issues?

The result of incident investigations is more than just to reduce the chance of similar incidents occurring; it is of a far more critical nature and far more honourable - it’s to ensure they don’t!

If the investigation team and the questionnaires overlook these issues, are they really working for the optimum outcome?