Disability Management
The term "Disability management" as defined by the International Labour Organization of Geneva is "A process in the workplace designed to facilitate the employment and reintegration of persons with a disability through a coordinated effort and taking into account individual needs, work environment, enterprise needs and legal responsibilities."
In many jurisdictions different terminology is used to indicate this process, such as "absence management", a term commonly used in the UK and Ireland, or "injury management", a term commonly used in Australia and New Zealand.
The terminology used within the pages of this website refer to "disability management" or the "Disability Management Self Assessment" tool. However, the questions appearing in the pdf file or in the online questionnaire, as well as the report that is generated, have been contextualized for license holders in each jurisdiction.
The Disability Management Self Assessment (DMSA ) was developed based on key elements and questions from the Consensus Based Disability Management Audit (CBDMA ), a highly calibrated, reliable and weighted tool used for benchmarking an organization's disability management program and administered globally under the auspices of the International Disability Management Standards Council (IDMSC ).
At the request of the IDMSC, the DM Self Assessment was created consisting of key questions which were selected using a defined psychometric analysis. This was followed by a review and validation through senior disability management experts representing all key stakeholder groups from various countries. The process was concluded through operational testing of the DMSA within a cross-section of workplaces across Canada and internationally.
The DMSA is designed to allow individual organizations to undertake a basic self-assessment of their current return to work and disability management efforts and obtain a report that provides an overview of their current performance. The report also identifies what the best practice is, thus allowing the organization to determine which areas of their program require review and/or improvement. The elements covered by the self assessment tool are as follows:
- Disability Management Policy and Workplace Resources
- Joint Worker-Management Support and Empowerment
- Responsibility, Accountability and Authority
- Workplace Culture and Policy Development
- Information and Communication Management
- Benefit Design and Influences
- Knowledge and Skills of the Disability Management Practitioner
- Disability Prevention
- Accident Prevention and Safety Programs
- Occupational Ergonomics
- Health Promotion and Wellness
- Injury, Disability and Lost Time Patterns
- Disability Cost Benefit Data
- Early Intervention and Timely Return to Work Process
- Early Intervention and Worker Communication Protocol
- Case Management Procedures
- Return to Work Coordination
- Transitional Work Options
- Workplace Accommodations