Proactive Rehabilitation Protects Employers and Employees
In the UK, managing work-related ill health has become an uphill battle for employee and employer alike. According to data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), nearly two million workers are managing work-related ill health. The problem is acute in the Health and Care sector, where employees report work-related ill health at significantly higher rates than the overall industry average.1
The cost to employers is steep. In the Health and Care sector specifically, work-related injuries and ill health cost an estimated £3.9 billion annually. This accounts for 17% of the total cost of all work-related ill health and injury in the UK.2
Swift intervention
The good news is that there is plenty employers can do to minimise the risks that lead to liability claims in the future. A big part of that is being proactive – intervening as soon as possible after an employee is injured.
At Travelers, we’ve addressed this through a benefit called Proactive Rehabilitation Support (PRS). It’s a service that allows an injured employee to access a bespoke rehabilitation programme as soon as they need it. This early intervention helps speed up recovery times and the employee’s return to work. We don’t wait for a claim to be made for the employee to access the service, and payments don’t affect the claims experience. Travelers includes PRS as an additional service under our employers’ liability cover, available in our health and care, office, manufacturing, medtech and life science policies, among others.
Protection beyond employers’ liability cover
On its own, employers’ liability cover supports the recovery of an employee injured at work once a formal claim has been submitted and after the insurer has accepted liability. But if a formal claim is not submitted promptly, it could be months before any support is provided to help the employee recover.
PRS from Travelers goes a step further, providing support to the injured employee at the earliest stage of medical intervention – before a formal claim is made or liability is accepted by the insurer. Support to aid the recovery of an employee injured at work can be given within days. An experienced in-house nurse manages the rehabilitation and oversees the cases until the injured employee has made a successful return to work.
Case study
Here’s an example of how this works in practice:
A 25-year-old employee working in the care sector was attacked by a service user. She suffered a concussion, soft-tissue and bite injuries to her arms, and associated psychological symptoms from the attack. She went to A&E after the incident and then to her local GP in the days afterwards.
Her employer reported the incident to Travelers, and we obtained consent to contact the employee. Within 24 hours, our in-house nurse made direct contact with the employee to assess her injuries. The nurse worked with the employee to arrange immediate private treatment when she experienced delays in obtaining the treatment required via her GP. The employee then received a private diagnostic assessment within ten days of the incident. Following this, she was able to return to work and successfully resume her pre-accident duties.
Benefits for policyholders, employees and the people they support
Early action like this is more likely to result in a quicker recovery for the employee — and create a ripple effect of benefits from there. PRS minimises the inconvenience of having an employee out of work and the need for temporary staff or overtime. It may reduce the possibility of formal claims, reduce claim numbers and therefore lower the cost of employers’ liability insurance. Employees who receive proactive support after an injury may reduce their likelihood of experiencing complications. They simply feel looked after, which elevates their level of employer satisfaction.
PRS also delivers specific advantages within the Health and Care sector. For example, a person with autism living in a residential care facility may struggle when new people are taking care of them. Their lack of familiarity with a new person or any change in routine may impede their care. In this environment, a favourite carer needing to be out of work for an extended period can magnify challenges for the people they normally support. PRS helps pave a smoother path forward — for the injured employee and everyone in their care.
Proof of the benefits of early invention is in the outcomes. The employee in the case study returned to work with minimal delay and felt valued because of the support provided by their employer. Had a claim been submitted instead, the same injuries might have kept the employee out of work for weeks – a disruptive amount of time for both employer and employee.
Sources
1 https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/index.htm
2 https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/health.pdf
This article is provided for general informational purposes only. It does not, and it is not intended to, provide legal, technical or other professional advice, nor does it amend, or otherwise affect, the provisions or coverages of any insurance policy issued by Travelers. Coverage depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss, all applicable policy provisions, and any applicable law.
Travelers operates through several underwriting entities in the UK and Europe. Please consult your policy documentation or review our Regulatory Statement for more information.
