New Business Structures Creating Organizational Opportunities and Challenges for Work Disability Prevention.
Kerstin Ekberg, Glenn S Pransky, Elyssa Besen and 4 others
PMID 27704343WHAT IT FOUND
Workers in temporary jobs, small firms, telework and lone roles often face weaker safety support, unclear employer liability and harder return to work.
Occupational therapists should check these structures before assuming standard workplace accommodations are available.
Key findings
01Temporary work arrangements in the US rose from 1.1 to 2.3 million workers between 1990 and 2008, and temporary agency workers may have greater injury risk, less accommodation and uncertain liability for return to work.
02Small and medium-sized enterprises account for over 95% of firms and 60-70% of employment, yet they are less likely to have return-to-work programmes and may be exempt from legal return-to-work provisions.
03Telework can remove physical barriers to employment, but teleworkers may mask illness or disability, and only half received a health and safety inspection of their home office.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The conclusions are not based on a systematic review, and the authors say the scientific literature on work disability prevention and return to work for these settings is very limited. The paper mixes literature review, conference discussion and expert opinion, so it cannot show whether any specific workplace accommodation or return-to-work programme works. It does not report original patient outcomes, effect sizes, or comparisons between groups. Most recommendations are future research priorities, not tested clinical interventions. No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is provided in the supplied text.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that any workplace accommodation or return-to-work programme works for temporary, small-firm, telework or lone workers. It is a narrative review and research agenda, not a systematic review or trial, and its conclusions are not based on a systematic review.