Development of an injury management plan to coordinate and manage treatment, rehabilitation and, if necessary, retraining of a worker supports timely, safe and durable return to work.
Principle
Injury management planning will be undertaken in a timely and proactive manner to support workers’ treatment, rehabilitation and return to work.
Expectations
Benchmarks
S12.1
Insurers are to commence injury management planning with the worker immediately upon receipt of an initial notification of injury and must develop an injury management plan if a workplace injury is identified as likely to be a significant injury.
Injury management plan developed within 20 working days from identification of a workplace injury as likely to be a significant injury
S12.2
In addition to the requirements in section 45 of the 1998 Act, the injury management plan is expected to:
be specific to the worker
be developed in consultation with the worker, the nominated treating doctor and the employer
be consistent with available medical and treatment information, and
include:
the goal of the plan and actions tailored to delivery of the goal
a statement about how and when the plan will be reviewed
the rights and obligations of all stakeholders.
Evidence on claim file
S12.3
When new information about an injury or treatment is received, insurers are expected to review injury management plans in accordance with the statement in the plan or as soon as practicable.
Evidence on claim file
The development of an injury management plan to coordinate and manage the treatment, rehabilitation, and if necessary, retraining of a worker, supports the achievement of a timely, safe and durable return to work.
NSW workers compensation legislation requires the development of an injury management plan when it appears that a workplace injury is a ‘significant injury’ as defined in section 42(1) of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (1998 Act).
An injury management plan is a comprehensive plan for managing a worker’s injury or condition. It provides details on treatment and rehabilitation as well as strategies to support the worker’s recovery at/return to work.
An injury management plan should provide the stakeholders (specifically the worker) with the information they need to understand the direction of injury management and the activities required to help the worker recover at work.
