RELEASE DATE 31/01/2008
Research shows that returning to safe work after a workplace injury or illness can be the best therapy, a message which WorkCoverSA hopes to deliver to all South Australians through an innovative advertising and online awareness campaign.
The campaign, which starts today on television and online with real-life case studies, builds on key messages developed from the return to work campaign launched in 2005 involving the fictional ‘Harry’ crayon cartoon.
“The awareness campaign has been conceptualised with the aim of evolving the return to work message towards the importance of return to work as part of recovery. It provides clear, actionable steps for injured workers, employers, health providers, friends and families,” said WorkCoverSA’s CEO, Julia Davison.
“The campaign was developed in consultation with injured worker representatives and employer and employee stakeholder groups to ensure the messages were identifiable and relevant and would resonate with our intended audiences,” said Ms Davison.
The three key objectives of the new campaign are:
- to emphasis the importance of return to work as part of the recovery
- to empower injured workers to actively contribute to their recovery and return to work
- continue to build awareness that everyone has a role to play in supporting injured workers’ recovery.
“WorkCoverSA claim statistics indicate that when a worker is away from work for more than three months after an injury they have only a 50% chance of returning to work within the following three months. The longer the worker is away, the probability of returning to work decreases – until after two years there is only a 12% probability of returning to work in the following three months,” said Ms Davison.
“The negative impacts can be felt in marriage and family breakdowns, social isolation, depression and psychological illness, to name just a few ill effects of delayed return to work.
“The old-fashioned advice of bed rest and staying at home until you’re completely recovered often isn’t the best therapy and can even prolong injuries. Being at work and continuing to contribute meaningfully, even in a small way, can help an injured worker’s sense of self-esteem, purpose and morale,” said Ms Davison.
A total of $850,000 has been budgeted for the awareness campaign for 2007-08. It has been designed with a life span of up to three years.
“We think this is an essential investment in raising awareness of and creating behavior change towards the importance of returning to work as part of the recovery. We will continue to increase awareness and action through a number of initiatives such as our annual conference, awards and now through our new awareness campaign,” said Ms Davison.
Media contact: Lauren Kandelaars, WorkCover SA – (08) 8238 5733 or 0408 827 676