No-one wants to have an accident, but everyone should work together when one occurs: This is the view of John Elliott, previous manager of Boral Plasterboard.
John was part of a team of people involved in a rehabilitation and return to work program to support Mark Humphreys, a leading production hand, who suffered a serious head injury in 1998.
Gradual return to work
Mark was seriously injured while travelling in a taxi which rolled over in Indonesia on its way to the airport. Mark, who joined Boral in 1985, was travelling to catch a flight to Adelaide after a six-week stint in Indonesia for work. The accident left him with serious head injuries and he was in a coma for three months.
Boral made a commitment to support Mark through his recovery and get him back to work. He was airlifted back to Australia, and after months off work, he began work again. Initially the work was only one or two hours a day, but this was gradually increased in consultation with Mark and his medical and rehabilitation professionals.
'Through that return to work process, the hard part was to hold Mark back to what his body and mind could keep up with,' said John. 'We thought the easiest way to get him back to work was a complete retraining on every job. We started with the easiest job, and over the course of 12 months he worked through every job on the production line. Right back up to his original position.
'You need communication with all people involved in the whole process. Everyone else really needs to know what is going on to help get the injured worker back to work'.
When the production line was closed down, Mark was moved across to the warehouse where he now works. He learnt new and different jobs, and did some retraining on the forklift, including regaining his licence.
For his part, Mark says he was determined to get back to normal as soon as possible, including full-time work.
'Going back to work has been very good and Boral have been very understanding,' said Mark. 'If I've had problems, they've listened, and shaped my work hours according to my health. It's been good for everybody at Boral, not just me, because they know that if they have an accident they'll be treated with the same kind of respect'.