What Is Work Conditioning?

Fit-For-Duty, Miscellaneous, Return to Work, Work Conditioning

When you’ve had an employee go out with an injury, you want them to recover quickly so they can get past this disruption in their life, but you also want to be sure they’re coming back to work in peak physical condition after injury. Job Ready Services offers several solutions to help your employees be sure they’re fit for duty, including Functional Capacity Evaluations and Fit for Duty testing, but your best option to help an injured employee get back to work and back to real life is our Work Conditioning program.

What Is Work Conditioning?

Work Conditioning is a specialized program designed to be an essential part of your injured em-ployee’s physical recovery plan. While physical therapy sessions occur once or twice per week, Work Conditioning is a daily rehab program that combines physical conditioning, ergonomics training, and safe work practice education to more effectively recover from injury and prepare to return to work.

Our highly individualized Work Conditioning program is built around the specific job functions your injured worker will be returning to. Taking their injuries into account, we will create a customized program to rebuild your employee’s strength and physical ability, and prepare them to get back to work and leave their injury in the past. We also teach your employee techniques to handle any flare-ups they may experience after returning to duty so they can avoid re-injuring themselves and further disrupting their life.

 

When Do You Need Work Conditioning?

Work Conditioning is not necessary for every injured worker. It is something you’ll need to consider as you monitor your employee’s rehabilitation progress. A Work Conditioning program is recommended when:

  • Your injured worker’s recovery has plateaued or been completed, yet they have not been approved to return to work.
  • Injured worker reports apprehension in returning to work due to increased potential for re-injury
  • Your injured worker’s Fit for Duty exam has indicated that they aren’t yet able to safely return to work.
  • Job is physically demanding, and a return to work results in an increase in pain and continuation of work-related deficits.

It’s important to note that Work Conditioning is not a continuation of the physical therapy your injured worker is receiving as part of their recovery. Physical therapy focuses on treating the area of injury, whereas Work Conditioning is specifically designed to improve function to help your employee safely return to their duties at work without restrictions.

Job Ready Services would love to speak with you further about how we can help your injured employee recover from their injury and get back to business as usual through Work Conditioning. Call us at (919) 256-1400 today to learn more.