Injured Employee Research Articles

Inflation in Romania: Causes, Effects, and Targeting Strategies

Inflation is based on numerous partial causes, from the correlation of which the inflationary process results. elected, it will be shown what losses the company will suffer because it fired a person without notice, especially when he was on vacation. In this paper, we will follow the fact that inflation has a fixed increase, this being indexed and calculated at the level of Romania, by the National Institute of Statistics, to calculate the salary and commission due for the injured employee. In specialized literature, inflation is expressed in monetary terms by the fact that the prices of services and goods increase, and the purchasing power of a mounting unit decreases. Keywords: demand, cost, finance, inflation, Romania

Investigating Occupational Accidents and Job Stress in a Construction Company and Its Relationship with Demographic Characteristics of Employees

Introduction: Construction industries have a complex nature, so they have a high rate of occupational accidents. Construction workers are known as one of the most stressful jobs. In addition to the mental health of employees, occupational stress also has a negative effect on the safety of the workplace. The present study investigates occupational accidents and job stress in a construction company and its relationship with the demographic characteristics of employees. 
 Materials and Methods: In the present study, occupational accident reports in a construction company were examined. After removing the incomplete reports, the information on 100 accidents such as the type of accident, the cause of the accident, the consequence of the accident, and the person who experienced the accident was collected. After collecting the accident data, the job stress of the injured employee was checked using the Osipow Job Stress Questionnaire. Data analysis was done in SPSS-24 software. 
 Results: The results showed that slipping and falling from a height had the highest frequency (41%), and electrocution had the lowest frequency (8%) among the accidents. The majority of the injured employees (96%) were placed in the moderate to severe stress group. No significant relationship was found between occupational accidents and demographic variables (P>0.05). Also, a positive and significant relationship was found between job experience and job stress (P<0.05). 
 Conclusion: The results of this study showed that it is necessary to take safety measures to reduce fall accidents. Due to the negative effects of occupational stress, it is recommended to implement measures such as developing a training program and holding stress management workshops, increasing organizational support, and identifying and adjusting stress sources.

Does blame always shift? Examining the impact of workplace safety communication language on post-accident blame attributions for multiple entities

The under-researching of Latinx employees in the organizational diversity literature is of critical importance as extant research indicates that findings relevant to frequently studied minority employees may not be applicable to Latinx employees. One factor that differentiates Latinx employees in the U.S. from other racial and ethnic minorities is their use of, or perceived use of, language. In this research, we investigated how inclusion efforts that incorporated multiple languages into the workplace impacted employment outcomes for Latinx employees following a workplace accident. In three separate studies, we found that factors such as the language used to communicate a safety warning (Studies 1 & 2) and employee ethnicity (Studies 2 & 3) influenced blame attributed to a low-level leader (the job foreman), but they had no relationship with blame attributed toward the injured employee who was the target of communication. Consequently, these findings differ from attribution theory research which has posited that blame shifts from one entity to another. Additionally, extant research on employment discrimination has typically focused on differential outcomes for occupational minorities. Our findings, however, suggest that researchers should examine the conditions in which equal treatment (despite perceived differences in needs) could place traditionally marginalized populations at a systematic disadvantage and, consequently, may actually be indicative of workplace discrimination.

UNDECLATED WORK AND LEGAL CONSEQUENCES

The development of new directions for the effective functioning of the labor sphere in Ukraine and measures to eliminate the negative trends currently taking place are impossible without researching such a negative economic phenomenon as the informal sector of the labor market. Currently, research on undeclared work is gaining special relevance, since the labor market as a dynamic system depends on the political and economic situation in the country. The informal sector of the labor market and undeclared work in the formal sector have common features, namely illegal employment of an employee or registration of an employee without concluding an employment contract, which is provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine.
 Thus, there is concealment of actually worked hours, payment of wages "in an envelope", replacement of actual employment contracts with civil and economic ones, non-payment of taxes and a high probability for employees to remain unemployed. At the same time, in the event of an injury at the productions of the informal sector of the labor market, the injured employee must spend considerable personal funds on treatment without any compensation payments. It is shown that currently in Ukraine there are no unified approaches to the interpretation of the content of the shadow economy, which leads to the absence of both methods of assessing its scale and scientific research on the development of approaches and ways of countering it.
 It has been proven that measures to reduce the number of people employed in the informal labor market are ineffective, because there is the tendency to increase the number of people working in the informal sector of the labor market. It is proposed to strengthen the motivation of legal employment and consolidate the efforts of social partners against shadow employment in order to implement such a policy in the field of labor protection in the state that would ensure decent working conditions at every workplace and contribute to reducing the volume of the shadow economy. The expediency of expanding the range of measures to encourage employers to participate in the formal labor market and the development of the scientifically based comprehensive national program of productive employment, aimed at ensuring a balanced supply and demand of labor on the labor market, was noted.
 The obtained theoretical conclusions are the basis of specific proposals intended for the planning of labor protection measures both at enterprises and in those sectors of the labor market where undocumented workers work.

Степень вины участников несчастного случая на производстве. Результаты исследования

According to the analysis of the materials of the investigation of industrial injury at hazardous production facilities of the oil and gas complex, the main cause of industrial injury is unsatisfactory organization of production of works. In most cases, the actions of the injured employee himself lead to his injury. In accordance with the labor legislation, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract upon the establishment of violations of the requirements of industrial safety by the employee, which led to injury or accident. Extensive judicial practice in resolving disputes on the dismissal of an employee on compensation for material and moral damage to employees who suffered from an incident indicates the existence of gaps in the legislation and the need to address them. In order to protect the rights of the employee and the employer in the event of an industrial injury (when establishing the fact of gross negligence of the employee that led to the industrial injury), the work defines the threshold values for the degree of guilt: an employee in an industrial injury, in which the employer is not entitled to refuse to compensate the employee for moral damage caused in connection with the industrial injury — less than 55 %; an employee in an industrial injury, in which the employer is not entitled to dismiss the employee — less than 75 %; employer, which excludes its full administrative and criminal liability — 10 % or less. The results were obtained based on the expert assessment methods (experts from more than 30 oil and gas companies, as well as the representatives of the trade union, insurers, and the state labor inspectorate) and mathematical statistics. The results of the research can be applied: at hazardous production facilities of the oil and gas complex as part of the improvement of integrated systems for managing occupational safety and industrial safety in terms of the procedure for investigating incidents; in judicial practice when deciding on the guilt of participants in incidents.

Investigating Neuroticism, Aggression, and Risk Taking as Predictors of Accident-Proneness in Line Employees of National Iranian Drilling Company

Introduction: The present study aims to examine neuroticism, aggression, and risk taking as predictors of accident-proneness in line employees of National Iranian Drilling Company.
 Methods: The present correlational predictive study was designed to predict group membership (injured employees, uninjured employees) and achieve the Audit Equation. The statistical population of the study consisted of all injured and uninjured line employees at the National Iranian Drilling Company of Ahvaz working in the company during the last five years (from April 2010 to November 2013). The research sample consisted of 145 injured employees (over the past 5 years) and 115 uninjured employees, selected using simple random sampling method. The subjects were measured by Neo Personality Inventory (Costa and McCrae, 1992), SCL90R Aggression Index, and Risk Taking scale (Westaby and Lee, 2003) questionnaires.
 Results: The data were analyzed by SPSS-16 software. The results of this study showed that accident-proneness of employees can be predicted only by neuroticism and aggression variables. The risk taking was not able to distinguish between injured and uninjured employees.
 Conclusion: According to the research results, in order to reduce accident-proneness in employees, personality traits, such as neuroticism and aggression should be considered.

Определение характеристик наиболее травмоопасных профессий работников промышленных энергетических объектов с точки зрения летального исхода

Electric power facilities traditionally demonstrate high rates of the fatal injuries. At the same time, the share of technical causes of injuries decreases annually. To reduce occupational injuries, the most promising measures are aimed at decreasing the influence of organizational and psychophysiological causes. Each of the potential causes of an injury can be described by the indicators that are uniquely associated with the work-related injuries and characterize the injured employee. The purpose of the study is to determine the characteristics of the employees in the most traumatic professions in the electric power industry who suffered as the result of injuries with fatality. Methodological approach is proposed related to the determination of the characteristic parameters of employees of the operating and maintenance personnel in the electric power industry. It consists of several stages. The first is the formation of the most common parameters, assignment to the group with an increased risk of industrial injuries. The second is the definition of a list of the most traumatic professions in the electric power industry. The third is the introduction of a procedure for multivariate cluster analysis of the input statistical data. The fourth is the calculation of the parameters of employees of the most traumatic professions in the electric power industry with distribution by cluster groups. Cluster groups are formed for professions: electrician, electrical fitter, foreman and wireman, which account for 80 % of the fatal injuries in the electric power industry. The relevant characteristics of the employees are determined: age, length of service, period after testing knowledge on the occupational safety, class of the working conditions. The proposed methodological approach can be used for any industry where the employee is exposed to the harmful and hazardous production factors. The methodology allows to develop and carry out measures for reducing the level of injuries.

Estimation cost of occupational accidents by SACA method: A case study in one of the South Pars Gas Refinery

Introduction: Occupational accidents impose a lot of direct and indirect costs on the national economy of the country. Because, as a fact, resources are limited for reducing the risks and costs can affect the optimal investment in safety issues. the aim of this study was to calculate the economic costs of occupational accidents in one of the South Pars Gas Refinery, Assalouyeh, Boushehr Province.
 Materials and Methods: The present research was a descriptive-analytic study, and the costs from 92 occupational accidents occurred in the South Pars Gas Refinery during the period of 2017 and 2018 was estimated. Estimation of these costs contributes to decision-making for cost control. The systematic accident cost analysis (SACA) method, was used to calculate the costs and information in the forms of each incident the total costwas calculated based on the type of incident after the analysis of the cost of the incident. Excel, SPSS version 17 Kolmogorov-Smironov and Chi-square tests were used for data manipulations and statistical analysis.
 Results: The Most working days were lost in the Gas Refinery (12613 days). The evaluations of accident cost showed that 2/3 of the costs of occupational accidents are visible in the corporate accounting information systems reviewed while 1/3 was hidden from management view. As can be seen, the costs due to the absence of the injured employee were the largest cost category with an average of 71%. The highest cost of occupational accidents for a company with 1500 employees was estimated to be approximately 27,440,000,000 Rials.
 Conclusion: The costs of accidents on employers and ultimately the country's economy are noticeable. It is really important to recognize the accidents’ causes, control the rate of them and provide sufficient and appropriate occupational health and safety services.

Work stress related cardiovascular diseases among construction professionals

PurposeCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible for one-third of global deaths. Work stress is a major risk factor for CVDs in the workforce. Construction professionals endure excessive work stress, yet their vulnerability to CVDs remains underexplored. The study investigated the prevalence of CVDs among construction professionals and its relationships to job stressors, stress coping methods and socio-demographics.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted among construction professionals in Australia wherein data related to job stressor experiences, stress management methods adopted, and incidents of CVDs were collected. Structural path analysis was conducted to discover associations.FindingsJunior level professionals reported higher incidents of angina and heart muscle weakening than others. Statistically significant positive associations were discovered between the reported CVDs, and job stressors such as excessive workload, unpredictable work hours, lack of support, discrimination and work–life conflict and negative stress coping methods such as consuming alcohol and/or drugs, emotional eating and aggression. However, no evidence was found to support the claim that demographic factors such as age and gender were also risk factors for CVDs.Originality/valueThe workers' compensation system provides financial protection to injured employees. It extends similar protection for work-related illnesses; however, it is more difficult to prove work-related causes for illnesses. The study provides scientific evidence to support the recognition of CVDs among construction professionals as work-related diseases, mediated by work stress.

The experience of employers of individuals with traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT Objectives: To understand the experience of employers of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who have received comprehensive vocational rehabilitation (VR), the factors involved in supporting an individual with TBI to return to work (RTW), and the support needs of employers. Methods: 12 employers completed semi-structured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically. Results: Five main themes were identified: challenges and impact on employer, managing employee post-injury changes, looking after employee wellbeing, managing conflicting emotions, and utilizing sources of support. Although employers received support with operational challenges, findings suggest they were not prepared for the emotional journey. While they struggled to support employees through the difficult process of realizing they could no longer perform at their pre-injury level, employers strove to find appropriate roles and ensure wellbeing for their injured employees. Despite employers' endeavours, they felt this process was demoralizing for some employees. Conclusions: Advising employers on operational as well as emotional support needs of both employees and employers is an ongoing challenge for VR providers. Although unsupportive employers were not well-represented in this sample, the study highlights the challenges faced and strategies used by employers who have a strong personal investment in the successful RTW of their employees.

Comparison of organizational commitment, job stress and personality traits among injured and non-injured employees of Isfahan refinery

Background: In recent decades, scientific growth has led to industrial progress and increased welfare for humans. But there are other unintended consequences, including work-related accidents. The incidence of occupational accidents in the various countries of the world, especially in the industrial sector, is increasing over time. So that occupational accidents are one of the most important problems in developing countries today. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the organizational commitment, job stress, and personality traits of injured and non-injured employees in Isfahan Refinery Company. Methods: The research method is descriptive and in terms of comparative causal research, the statistical population of the study was 420 people and the number of unfortunate incidents in the number of 238 people in the autumn of 1397-39, totally 658 people, among whom A total of 100 poeple were selected via convenience sampling in two groups of 50. In this research Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Ellen & Miller, 1990), Job Stress Questionnaire (Lambert et al., 2007), Personality Characteristics Questionnaire (McCrae &, 2004) were used. Results: The data were analyzed by using multivariate and one-variable variance analysis. The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of injured and non-injured employees in the job stress and affective commitment, but their differences in normative and continuance commitment and personality traits were not significant. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that workplace accidents could be decreased through increasing of affective commitment and decreasing of job stress. Therefore, the need to pay attention to these factors should be considered by policymakers, scientists and practitioners.

Socio-economic disparities and returning to work following an injury

BackgroundTraumatic injury is one of the main reasons for temporary and permanent occupational disability.The objective of this study was to define the role of socio-economic position on post-injury occupational absenteeism.MethodsThis was a nationwide retrospective cohort study, based on linking The Israeli National Trauma Registry (INTR) and the National Insurance Institute (NII) databases.The study population included 44,740 injured workers (residents of Israel, aged 21–67, hospitalized between 2008 and 2013 and employed prior to injury as salaried workers). Logistic-regression models tested the probability of not returning to work (RTW).ResultsThe majority of the study population (61%) RTW within 1 month following the injury event. Income prior to injury was significantly associated with longer out of work stay, explaining 9% variance. A significant interaction (p value < 0.0001) was found between age and income on out of work stay more than 1 month, 1 year and 2 years. Logistic regression models of out of work stay were conducted separately for all age groups. Lower income was associated with greater chance for out of work stay for more than 1 month; and the gap between the lowest and highest income quartiles was greater among older workers (age 55+), where there was an elevenfold increase in probability of not RTW among casualties from the lowest vs. highest income quartile. In comparison to other population groups, Arabs were at greater odds of longer out of work stay following an injury. Among injured persons recognized by the NII as having occupational injuries, the odds for not RTW within a month, a year and 2 years were respectively 3.9, 2.5 and 2.2 times significantly greater in comparison to employees injured outside the workplace.ConclusionsThis study identified population groups with a high probability of not RTW following an injury requiring hospitalization. Intervention programs for injured employees should promote early rehabilitation and aim to shorten out of work stay. These programs should be ethnically adapted and focus on underprivileged and disadvantaged populations.

Influence of working conditions on the economy of an agricultural enterprise

The article deals with the problems of increasing the economic efficiency of agricultural enterprises by improving working conditions, reducing the level of exposure to harmful and dangerous production factors. The purpose of the article is to analyze methodological approaches to forecasting possible economic losses of agricultural enterprises due to the presence of harmful or dangerous working conditions and to develop organizational and management solutions to reduce these losses. Economic services of agricultural enterprises need to have a methodology for assessing real economic losses due to unfavorable working conditions at enterprises, which will give employers an understanding that the costs of labor protection and safety not only pay off, but also give a significant economic effect and contribute to improving the profitability of production and allow them to make informed management decisions. It is shown that forecasting economic damage from occupational diseases and industrial injuries, accidents is a complex task, but it is quite solvable on the basis of the procedure for assessing and managing occupational risks and applying known patterns of crop losses or animal productivity due to violations of agrotechnical deadlines or animal maintenance regime due to the absence of an injured employee at the workplace.

Mining Hidden Knowledge About Illegal Compensation for Occupational Injury: Topic Model Approach.

BackgroundAlthough injured employees are legally covered by workers’ compensation insurance in South Korea, some employers make agreements to prevent the injured employees from claiming their compensation. Thus, this leads to underreporting of occupational injury statistics. Illegal compensation (called gong-sang in Korean) is a critical method used to underreport or cover-up occupational injuries. However, gong-sang is not counted in the official occupational injury statistics; therefore, we cannot identify gong-sang–related issues.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze social media data using topic modeling to explore hidden knowledge about illegal compensation—gong-sang—for occupational injury in South Korea.MethodsWe collected 2210 documents from social media data by filtering the keyword, gong-sang. The study period was between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2017. After completing natural language processing of the Korean language, a morphological analyzer, we performed topic modeling using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) in the Python library, Gensim. A 10-topic model was selected and run with 3000 Gibbs sampling iterations to fit the model.ResultsThe LDA model was used to classify gong-sang–related documents into 4 categories from a total of 10 topics. Topic 1 was the greatest concern (60.5%). Workers who suffered from industrial accidents seemed to be worried about illegal compensation and legal insurance claims, wherein keywords on the choice between illegal compensation and legal insurance claims were included. In topic 2, keywords were associated with claims for industrial accident insurance benefits. Topics 3 and 4, as the second highest concern (19%), contained keywords implying the monetary compensation of gong-sang. Topics 5 to 10 included keywords on vulnerable jobs (ie, workers in the construction and defense industry, delivery riders, and foreign workers) and body parts (ie, injuries to the hands, face, teeth, lower limbs, and back) to gong-sang.ConclusionsWe explored hidden knowledge to identify the salient issues surrounding gong-sang using the LDA model. These topics may provide valuable information to ensure the more efficient operation of South Korea’s occupational health and safety administration and protect vulnerable workers from illegal gong-sang compensation practices.

Environmental Factor, Education &amp; Training and PPE Impact on Safety Performance: A Study Among Construction Workers at SESCO Sub-station, Balingian, Sarawak

Safety and health at workplace is an emergent concern in almost all parts of the world including developing countries such as Malaysia. Construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries with regard to work-related injury and fatality rates. Impact on the company would include loss working hours of injured employee, cost of repair and replacement of property and damages as well as increment in insurance premium. The purpose of the study is intended to examine the relationship between factors with safety performance at construction sites. This study investigates whether factors such as working environment, education &amp; training, PPE and weather have any influence on safety performance. The study was conducted among construction workers at Sesco Sub-Station, Balingian, and Sarawak. A set of validated questionnaires were distributed to 100 construction workers. Data were examined based on 95 returned questionnaires (respond rate 95%). Data were analyzed with SPSS version 22 using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to measure the strength of relationship between independent and dependent variables. It was concluded that the most important factor affecting safety performance of the construction workers at SESCO Sub-Station, Balingian, and Sarawak is PPE.

Workplace accommodations following work-related mild traumatic brain injury: what works?

Background: Individuals who have experienced a work-related mild traumatic brain injury face a variety of challenges when returning to work. Research has demonstrated that the implementation of workplace accommodations can reduce the incidence of workplace disability. Few studies investigate work-related mild traumatic brain injury from injured workers’ perspectives, and none examine workplace accommodations in detail.Purpose: This study explores the types of accommodations that individuals receive, and the factors that influence how they are provided and to whom.Materials and methods: This study is a qualitative secondary data analysis of 12 telephone interviews. ATLAS.ti software was used to facilitate coding and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.Results: This study makes explicit various accommodations identified as being useful or required by individuals on return to work. Participants identified a gradual return to work, and modified duties, among other accommodations. Components of the workplace social and structural environment, and the occupational context influenced how accommodations were provided and to whom.Conclusions: Obtaining appropriate support is of great importance to injured employees, their employers, insurers, and healthcare providers. Stakeholders should be aware of how to successfully identify and access appropriate workplace accommodations to support injured workers on return to work.Implications for rehabilitation Return to Work Accommodations • Workplace accommodations reduce the incidence of workplace disability. • Workplace accommodations can be formal or informal. • Participants identified a gradual return to work, modified duties, self-directed compensatory strategies, and allowances for medical appointments, among other accommodations, as being useful or required. • Stakeholders, including healthcare providers involved in rehabilitation, should be aware of how to successfully identify and implement these accommodations to ensure injured workers are supported on return to work.

Expediting Return to Work Full Duty with Successful Onsite Medical Management

Abstract Emory Healthcare with Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia is the largest employer in DeKalb County. Contract onsite physical therapy and ergonomic services were added in 2001. Emory employees with work related injures were discharged after five onsite physical therapy visits on average versus the national average of fourteen outpatient visits. The estimated cost savings was $887,574 in 2006. In 2008, Emory's Occupational Injury Management Department separated from the Employee Health Department to handle injured employees. Two orthopedic physical therapists specializing in ergonomics were hired full time. The injured employee fills out an online incident report and is seen by the medical staff within 1 to 48 hours. The employee is evaluated in physical therapy, treated and instructed in proper body mechanics. An ergonomic evaluation is performed if an employee has symptoms due to the work postures or the physical demands of the job. Physical therapy statistics of discharged patients were recorded for three years to evaluate the work status on discharge, the departments where injuries occurred, and types of injuries. The information was utilized to target the common injuries and develop a plan to reduce and prevent further injuries. Over 300 Emory employees were discharged annually from onsite physical therapy. The statistics consistently revealed 90% to 93% of the employees returned to work full duty. Only 35% of the employees required referral to an outside physician. The primary departments where injuries occurred were in Nursing, Facilities Management, and the Food and Nutrition Departments. Injury prevention programs were designed based on the ergonomic evaluations. The Safe Patient Handling Program was initiated in 2006. Overhead and mobile lifts were utilized. With continual nursing education and administrative support, there has been a 12.5% cumulative reduction in lifting injuries in 2014. In 2005, WC cases cost $3500 but currently are $1400. Emory's comprehensive approach expedites successful return to full duty work and reduces the cost of work related injuries.

The Role of the Orthopaedic Surgeon in Workers' Compensation Cases.

Workers' compensation is an employer-funded insurance program that provides financial and medical benefits for employees injured at work. Because many occupational injuries are musculoskeletal in nature, the orthopaedic surgeon plays an important role in the workers' compensation system. Along with establishing the correct diagnosis and implementing an appropriate treatment plan, the clinician must understand the fundamental components of the workers' compensation system to manage an injured employee. Ultimately, effective claim management requires collaboration among the employer, the employee, the legal representatives, the insurance company, and the orthopaedic surgeon.

Injured Employees.

Injured Employees.

Employer Satisfaction With an Injured Employee's Health Care: How Does It Affect the Selection of an Occupational Health Care Provider?

The purpose of this article is to explore the most important factors that an employer utilizes in selecting an occupational health care provider for their employees injured on the job. The primary practice setting is the attending physician's office who is an occupational health care provider. The responding employers deemed "work restrictions given after each office visit" as their most important factor in selecting an occupational health care provider, with a score of 43. This was followed in order in the "very important" category by communication, appointment availability, employee return to work within nationally recognized guidelines, tied were medical provider professionalism and courtesy with diagnostics ordered timely, next was staff professionalism and courtesy, and tied with 20 responses in the "very important" category were wait time and accurate billing by the provider.The selection of an occupational health care provider in the realm of workers' compensation plays a monumental role in the life of a claim for the employer. Safe and timely return to work is in the best interest of the employer and their injured employee. For the employer, it can represent hard dollars saved in indemnity payments and insurance premiums when the employee can return to some form of work. For the injured employee, it can have a positive impact on their attitude of going back to work as they will feel they are a valued asset to their employer. The case managers, who are the "eyes and ears" for the employer in the field of workers' compensation, have a valuable role in a successful outcome of dollars saved and appropriate care rendered for the employees' on the job injury. The employers in the study were looking for case managers who could ensure their employees received quality care but that this care is cost-effective. The case manager can be instrumental in assisting the employer in developing and monitoring a "stay-at-work" program, thereby reducing the financial exposure for the employer.