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From Bundy to the world 18.10.2007 By Nikita Lee
http://www.news-mail.com.au/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3752372
THE tiny two-man business began in a modest Bundaberg office, but a recent export award has catapulted WorkHab managing director David Roberts into the international business realm.
The business, which trains people to provide workplace injury assessment, grew from a joke with business partner Sam Bradbury, but soon turned into a successful enterprise. "I met Sam and we discussed how we didn t like the assessments being used, and we jokingly said 'How about we design an assessment ourselves?'" Mr Roberts said. But the dare to create assessments based on workplace injuries and the problems posed directly after an incident soon turned into reality.
The former physiotherapist of 30 years recently received a Premier of Queensland's Export Services Award for training up to 1300 people throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United States. "We started this all in 1995 and we still only have two offices, here and in the States, and Sam has been in Santa Fe for most of the time," Mr Roberts said. The long-distance partnership has worked with their respective locations allowing the pair to keep up to date on latest trends.
"Having Sam over there researching ensures the ideas are always coming through, and we're always able to stay that little bit ahead," Mr Roberts said. While making the most of a small budget, the business has started planning for training facilities in London, across Europe, South Africa and Canada.
Administration officer Teena Bates has only been with WorkHab since July this year, but has already seen the demand for assessment training heighten. "We're in the middle of data-basing all the people we have trained, and it s certainly starting to expand and move forward," Ms Bates said.
Mr Roberts is currently in United Kingdom working on future endeavours through WorkHab.
Winner Services Award
Workhab
http://www.export.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v3/guis/templates/content/gui_cue_cntnhtml.cfm?id=58157
Based in Bundaberg, WorkHab offers an innovative system of assessing disability and physical strength as well as the management of workers’ physical abilities on-the-job. WorkHab has application to rehabilitation assessments and pre-employment screening, and shows an emerging potential for managing physical and cognitive abilities in an older workforce. WorkHab programs train health professionals to improve their skill level. With developed markets in the United States and New Zealand, WorkHab has recently commenced exporting to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe.
As Published in OHS Alerts online:
NOTE: The Presentation discussed in this article was presented by Mr. David Roberts on behalf of Jenny Legge, Director of JobFit System International and the creator of the JobFit System International PEFA she can personally be contacted at Jenny.Legge@JobFitSystem.com
Functional assessments better than medical screening
Functional assessments are a far more reliable indicator than pre-employment medical screening of whether a candidate will be able to perform a job safely, a conference heard today.
Speaking at the Queensland Safety Forum in Brisbane this morning, David Roberts from WorkHab said that while medical assessments are widely used to screen potential employees, they don’t provide a reliable indicator of how safely and capably a worker will perform tasks once employed.
Pre-employment functional assessments (PEFA), however, take into account the specific tasks involved in a job and the candidate or worker’s physical ability to perform them, he says.
Roberts says a PEFA shouldn’t replace medical screening but can be added to the screening process to make it more effective.
He says that before a PEFA can be undertaken, employers need to obtain:
1. informed consent from the worker/candidate. Workers who understand why they are being assessed and what the process involves are more co-operative and facilitate a more accurate result;
2. a medical history questionnaire; and
3. musculoskeletal screening – this is generic screening that helps to ensure that the assessor knows the worker’s gross limitations and that the worker won’t be injured during the assessment. Any limits identified only become relevant if they will prevent the worker performing the requirements of the job (for example, an inability to raise an arm above shoulder height shouldn’t preclude a worker from employment if their job doesn’t require such movements).
The actual PEFA involves an assessor observing a worker to perform tasks to ascertain their:
- general fitness;
- postural tolerance – whether workers can bend, kneel and squat etc. Roberts says it’s important to remember that many jobs require these postures, not necessarily in their core tasks but where cleaning or maintenance is required;
- materials handling – this doesn’t just assess whether a worker can lift, for example, 15 kilograms, but also takes into account the size and shape of the materials to be lifted (for example, a 15kg sheet of glass will be lifted differently to a 15kg bag of cement). As well, the assessment accounts for how many times the materials must be handled, at what heights, and over what duration; and
- other tests – such as balance (for working at heights); walking (upstairs or on uneven surfaces) and grip (for working with vibrating machinery).
- Roberts says that when performed properly, a PEFA can reliably indicate a worker’s ability to perform a job as well as how fast and accurately.
Used as a periodic assessment, it can track workers over time and indicate whether their functionality may be reducing and whether they are at increased risk of suffering an injury. Employers can then act by providing additional training and/or moving the worker to another task.
Where the assessments show a trend of reduced functionality among workers performing the same tasks, employers can act to prevent injuries by improve ergonomics or work systems that are causing the problem.
www.ohslert.com.au
Online Occupational Health and Safety Alert Service which covered the recent Safety Show In Brisbane 21 – 23 June 2006
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