Knowella

Return to Work Programme Plan

Sets out how the site brings people back to work after injury or illness, covering triggers, roles, timescales and the duties that are actually available. Written once and reviewed yearly. Owned by occupational health with HR. Most return to work failures are programme failures rather than individual ones.

KnowHealthPlanHLT-057Pinned in navigation
Completed by
Owned by occupational health with HR
Raised
When the thing being planned is created, and again at the

Summary

In short

  • A return to work programme plan is a plan used in KnowHealth that sets out how the site brings people back to work after injury or illness, covering triggers, roles, timescales and the duties that are actually available. It is built against ISO 45001 cl.8.1 and forms part of the Vulnerable and Temporary Workers programme.
  • Written once and reviewed yearly. Owned by occupational health with HR.
  • The template holds 57 fields across 7 sections.
  • Scoring is programme complete, where high is good.
  • ISO 45001 is occupational health and safety management systems. The international standard for managing worker health and safety. Certifiable, and the backbone of most of this library.
  • It connects to the rest of the library: governs every record in this category.

What it is

What it is

What is a return to work programme plan?

A return to work programme plan is a plan used in KnowHealth that sets out how the site brings people back to work after injury or illness, covering triggers, roles, timescales and the duties that are actually available. It is built against ISO 45001 cl.8.1 and forms part of the Vulnerable and Temporary Workers programme.

When is a return to work programme plan completed?

A return to work programme plan is completed when the thing being planned is created, and again at the stated review interval. Written once and reviewed yearly.

When to use it

When to use it, and when not to

This plan is one step in a larger programme. Using it for work that belongs to a neighbouring template produces records that are hard to report on later.

Use it for

  • The event or activity this plan covers has occurred, or is about to
  • Authorisation is needed before the work can begin
  • The workspace is being set up, or the register needs an entry added or retired
  • You are running the Vulnerable and Temporary Workers programme and this is one of its steps
  • A linked record needs this one to exist: governs every record in this category

Not for

  • Work Restriction Record, which records what a worker can and cannot do while recovering, and for how long.
  • Modified Duty Plan, which sets out the temporary duties a recovering worker will perform.
  • Return to Work Interview, which records the conversation on return from any absence, covering fitness, adjustments and whether work contributed.
  • Anything outside KnowHealth, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process

Standards

What it is built against

ISO 45001Occupational health and safety management systems

The international standard for managing worker health and safety. Certifiable, and the backbone of most of this library.

ISOInternational Organization for Standardization

A voluntary international standard. Widely adopted, often required by customers, and certifiable where a management system standard.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the return to work programme plan template based on?+

It is built against ISO 45001 cl.8.1. ISO 45001 is occupational health and safety management systems. The international standard for managing worker health and safety. Certifiable, and the backbone of most of this library. ISO is international Organization for Standardization. A voluntary international standard. Widely adopted, often required by customers, and certifiable where a management system standard.

What sections does the return to work programme plan contain?+

There are 7 sections: header, scope and principles, triggers, roles, duties and adjustments, governance, communication. Together they hold 57 fields, 51 of which are required.

How many return to work programme plan records should we have?+

This is a singleton. One record per workspace, set up once and maintained, rather than one per event. Other templates refer back to it.

Which programme does the return to work programme plan belong to?+

It is part of Vulnerable and Temporary Workers, Return to Work. Restrictions that survive a change of supervisor, and a register that makes them visible.

How is a return to work programme plan scored?+

Scoring is programme complete. High is good. Scores exist to make the form tell you something, not to produce a percentage for its own sake.

Can the return to work programme plan template be changed?+

Yes. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it. Most teams install it as it is, run it for a cycle, then adjust.

The agents

What the agents do with it

The form is the easy part. Keeping it current, routing it to the right owner and holding the evidence together is the work that actually slips.

KnowHealth

Holds the return to work programme plan library against your registers, routes each record to its owner, and keeps the evidence trail together.

Ella

Coordinates the crew, rolls completion and exceptions into one view, and holds every write for your approval before it touches a record.

This template lives in KnowHealthemployee wellbeing. Exposure monitoring, health surveillance, case management and return to work.

Meet KnowHealth

Sources

Sources

  • ISO 45001 — Occupational health and safety management systems
  • ISO — International Organization for Standardization

KnowHealth

Also in Return to Work

6Browse the whole library
Record

Work Restriction Record

Records what a worker can and cannot do while recovering, and for how long. Completed when restrictions are issued. Managed by occupational health with the supervisor. States capabilities rather than diagnosis, which is all the supervisor needs.

Plan

Modified Duty Plan

Sets out the temporary duties a recovering worker will perform. Written when restrictions are issued. Agreed by the supervisor, worker and occupational health. Real work rather than made up tasks, because meaningful duty speeds recovery.

Record

Return to Work Interview

Records the conversation on return from any absence, covering fitness, adjustments and whether work contributed. Completed on every return. Carried out by the line manager. Done well it finds work related ill health nobody would otherwise report.

Record

Stay at Work Record

Keeps somebody at work on adjusted duties instead of signing them off. Raised at the first sign that a person is struggling to do their normal job. Completed by the supervisor with occupational health. Far easier than bringing somebody back once they have been away for a month.

Record

Return to Work Referral

Opens a return to work case and gathers what is known so far about the absence, the person and their job. Raised at the trigger point set in the programme plan. Completed by the manager and passed to occupational health. The point where the clock starts.

Record

Return to Work Meeting Record

Records the meeting between the worker, their manager and occupational health where the return is agreed. Held before the return date. Chaired by occupational health or HR. The worker being in the room is what separates a plan that works from one that is imposed.

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