Things move slowly in the workers compensation system

They say that things move slowly in the workers compensation system, and sadly I have to agree that things move oft times far too slowly.  

In ’97 a review of workers compensation was called for; the author of that Report recommended several key findings that needed to be addressed. The main key findings were the need for transparency and the removal of silos within the entire workers compensation system. I was new to the world of workers compensation, I read the Report and felt that all the concerns I had held as an injured worker had been addressed and that “things would improve”. Sadly, that was never to be the situation.

Come forward 20 years to a conference I attended last year, I sat to listen to the key note speaker, a man who I respect greatly only to hear him repeat almost verbatim what had been written in the ’97 Report and once more transparency for the entire workers compensation system was being called for and the removal of the silos within the workers compensation process.  

Over two decades I have attended countless workers compensation conferences and seminars and listened to numerous podcasts and webinars, I have sat in workshops and planning sessions- the reoccurring theme has remained around the need for open communication and the destruction of silos within the workers compensation process. Each time I see a glimmer of hope that mayhaps the message is finally going to get through and that the change that was first called for way back in the late ‘90’s may finally get to see the light of day. Each time a conference report comes out, the need of transparency and the removal of silos is mentioned: and once more the hopes are raised and then dashed as the system rolls on and the recommendations are forgotten about only to be picked up again by another speaker at another conference.

Come forward to yesterday when I was involved in a discussion in regards to what is happening at Craig’s Table. It was interesting to have the questions asked about lack of transparency and barriers to recovery and silos within the workers compensation process; what was fascinating was the questioner truly believed that she had stumbled on a new concept that would shift and remove a great deal of angst “creating transparency and removing silos in order to assist everyone to understand workers compensation and the process of what needs to be done and how to engage everyone into the discussion for a better outcome.” I listened as the questioner was talking about all the benefits that the wider workers compensation industry would gain and how the whole system would be improved. 

All the while I am listening I was thinking to myself “how do I say that the workers compensation industry has been discussing creating transparency and removal of silos for 20+ years and although it has been recommended countless times?”  

The best I could come up with is to explain that Craig’s Table has recognised the need for a different process to be in place and that we have worked very hard to ensure that at all times open communication is maintained and that that silos are not permitted as integration of people and ideas always creates a smoother and more sustainable outcome for everyone. All of it is made very easy by ensuring that at all times Craig’s Table maintains an open-door policy so that nothing is hidden from anyone and everyone is equal.

At Craig’s Table we also understand that each person is on their own journey and their own future looks vastly different to what the workers compensation system considers possible.

Open upfront honest conversation regardless of how uncomfortable the topic is or what needs to be on the discussion table, all of it focussed on the best of all possible outcomes which is a return to the workplace. 

Whilst none of this is easy to start with it is easy to maintain simply because the truth no matter how uncomfortable allows for the required transparency, the open doors prevents silos from forming. The participants here at Craig’s Table can and do walk into just sit and chat with me, the questions they ask are everything from the ultra-personal to the quirky concepts of what if this or what if that. At any time a participant is just likely to ask me to do a task that needs doing, everything from sweeping a floor to fetching the lunch orders to just joining in a conversation in the garden area.

So 20+ years after the first Report about the need for transparency and the removal of silos we have Craig’s Table, a place where the primary focus on each individual requires us to set a standard of empathy and we lift from that starting point.

The question still remains how long will this process take to filter into the wider workers compensation concept. I have no answer for that, my hope is that it doesn’t take another 20+ years.

Yours in service
Rosemary

www.craigstable.net.au
rosemary@craigstable.net.au
SKYPE Rosemary2412
11^th September 2018